Detours
by NightOwlHoot
Summary: Here's another version of S6. Nothing is ever easy for Annie Walker. Belenko had bigger plans and Annie & Ryan are trying to figure them out, but in isolation. The past comes into play, Belenko knew Simon. Doesn't bode well. Eyal, Joan, Arthur, Eric, Auggie & Tash. . . None of these characters are mine, all belong to CA Writers/USA Network.
1. Chapter 1

At the End of the Last Episode: Joan offering Annie a position at the CIA.

Recap: Annie resigned after getting suspended. She was on McQuaid's payroll.

"We have a lot of breaches to examine after Chicago, the motorcade bombing, and the hit on Auggie and James that nearly took place right here in our offices," said Joan explaining one of the top priorities of the new task force she was given charge to head.

"What about Haley Price and the NCTC? Isn't that what they were all about?"

"There will be some overlap between our projects and you may be called to work with Ms. Price, but we will be mostly self-contained and we won't be subject to the same constraints as in the past. We'll be given considerable slack to cover the ground we need to cover."

"That sounds refreshing. . ."

"To be clear Annie, I will fight for you to remain in the field, but you need to work with me. We can't have any more secrets between us if we're going to move forward as a team. I hope you know that you can always come to me for help, in fact, I will require it of you."

"The trust goes both ways Joan. I need to know you'll always have my back, give me the benefit of the doubt and not jump to any conclusions."

"Fair enough. We could both stand to work on our weaknesses."

"Can I have a few days to think about it? I have some other issues to resolve and it's been non-stop since Chicago. I could use a few days to figure things out."

Joan gave Annie a surprised, yet impressed look.

"What? You need a decision right this minute?"

"No, not at all, the old Annie Walker wouldn't have asked for days off, I like Annie Version 2.0, time off to recharge and recuperate is a good thing, a sign of maturity. I want you to be sure this is the right path for you and you know you technically don't work for me, so I'm not the one to ask about time off."

Annie and Joan shared a laugh, "I guess you're right!"

"Auggie's observation was on point, you are a different operative now, a much more seasoned one." Joan didn't know how much those words meant to Annie after years of trying to impress her boss.

"Thanks Joan. I'll call you by Monday, if not sooner."

"Enjoy your time off. You certainly earned it. And Annie, good luck resolving your other issue," said Joan.

/ ~ /

Annie walked through the open desk area of the DPD and into Auggie's office. He wasn't there. Barber is with a box of doughnuts at Auggie's desk , he sees Annie and says with a full mouth, "Auggie's taken a few days off."

"Hello Eric."

"Oh, sorry, hi Annie! Want a doughnut?"

Annie smiled, "It's good to see you Eric."

"The doughnuts were way better at McQuaid Securities, they splurged for the artisanal ones," said Barber causing Annie to let out a giggle.

"They do know how to keep their employees happy and inside the office instead of trekking out for junk food. . ." said Annie.

"I want to say thank you for saving Auggie in Grozny, he's not just my boss, he's my friend."

"He's my friend too and he would have done the same for us," said Annie with a smile.

"See you around Barber," said Annie as she left.

"Oh Annie," Eric called after her.

"Yep?"

"Uh, don't tell Auggie I was eating at his desk, I'll clean up the crumbs before he gets back, he'll never know. . ." asked Eric sheepishly.

"You got it," said Annie knowing that Auggie would know that Barber was at his desk as soon as he sat down. The two of them reminded Annie of Oscar and Felix, the Odd Couple. One was a huge slob and the other was a complete neat freak.

Working with them again would be a lot of fun and a lot of refereeing.


	2. Chapter 2

Annie sat in her car in the guest lot of Langley for a good five minutes before she put the car keys in the ignition. She sat there with her elbow on the door and her left hand on her temple as she replayed her meeting with Joan. She was floored by what just happened. She had gone into Langley expecting Joan to chew her out, instead she offered her a job and a clean service record. Annie knew Joan had to smooth things over with Interpol regarding what had happened in Essen and she had to deal with the Argentine secret police over the litany of bodies left at Recoleta. There was also the matter of the dead FSB agent last seen with her. She thought she'd have to clear out the remaining personal items at her desk, but instead a dream job was on the table for her to consider. Annie had give up daydreaming years ago, but even in her wildest imagination she would not have been able to conjure up what had happened to her over the last few days.

In Argentina, just as the Russian assassins were closing in on them, Ryan proposed. She thought the ringing she still heard in her ears from the blast in Grozny caused her to hear incorrectly, but she heard right. He said, "Let's get married," and he meant it. He got under her skin, he was impulsive and reckless, yet he drew her in and she found him harder and harder to resist as she spent more time with him.

Since returning from their harrowing time in Buenos Aires, she had spent every night at his place and every moment with him. She smiled thinking about the last couple of nights with Ryan. It was a relief to for once return to D.C. unburdened. The lack of an imminent threat on national security and to her loved ones allowed Annie to finally focus on something she had put off for too long.

Finally, she reached into her glove compartment for her phone. Personal cell phones are not allowed into the CIA offices. Upon turning her phone on she saw that she had a missed call from Ryan. He probably wanted to check-in and see what Joan wanted. When they had their coffee and breakfast in bed earlier that day, she had expressed not looking forward to her meeting with Joan. Ryan in his signature pragmatic manner said, "No use worrying until you find out what she wants." She felt bad not going with him to his follow-up appointment for his two gunshot wounds and subsequent pulmonary embolism. She wanted to hear what the doctor said about his recovery, but Ryan insisted that she not keep Joan Campbell waiting on his account, so they left his home in separate vehicles and agreed to check in after their respective appointments.

Annie turned the key, already in the ignition and drove out of Langley's massive lot. "Bluetooth connected," said the robotic yet feminine voice of her car. Annie commanded, "Call Ryan, mobile" and listened to the car respond, "Dialing Ryan, mobile."

As the car dialed, Annie was drawn to steer her car to a spot she had only visited once months ago.

"Walker!" answered McQuaid.

"Well someone sounds chipper!" said Annie with a smile that Ryan could hear on the other end.

"So was Joan as scary as you anticipated?"

"Surprisingly, no."

"So she didn't reprimand you? Well that's a first."

"So you _did_ think she was going to chew me out and told me not to worry about it anyway? Some help you are!"

"It worked didn't it? I saved you some needless angst. So are you going to tell me what she wanted?"

"Not yet, I need some time to think first."

Ryan's brows furrowed but he knew who he would tap for information on Annie's meeting with Joan as soon as he had the chance. Annie didn't want to share Joan's offer with Ryan just yet, she wanted to make her decision on her own. Knowing Ryan, he'd probably try to talk her out of going back to the CIA. It was no secret, Ryan didn't care for the CIA. He was always dogging on the agency and didn't like their bureaucracy and protocols. So she changed the subject, something that wasn't lost on Ryan.

"How are you feeling?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. How was your follow-up? What did the doctor say?"

"Fine, good as new, just need to keep up with the anticoagulants for another couple of months and avoid bleeding."

Annie laughed and repeated, "Avoid bleeding? You already broke that directive during the fist fight you staged with Deckard, so does that mean you're going to stay out of the field for the next couple of months?"

"Are you asking me because you can't stand to be without me?" asked Ryan flirtatiously.

"Sorry, I realize how that must have sounded. . .I know there's not much that would keep you down," said Annie, who was worried that he might interpret her remark as smothering.

"I like that you're worried about me, does that mean you'll take me in sickness and in health?"

Annie hadn't answered Ryan's proposal yet and this was the first time he referred to it since he proposed in Buenos Aires. He knew not to push her, but he had gone ahead and purchased an engagement ring. It was a nearly 1.75-carat brilliant cut diamond with pear shaped diamonds on each side totaling 2.5 carats. He wanted to get an even larger center stone, but hesitated knowing that she'd think it was too big and too flashy. Though the ring he chose was smaller than he would have liked, the diamonds were nearly flawless like the woman he was going to give them to.

"I have some other things going on and frankly, I don't have a good track record with men, so would you mind if we just spent more time together first?"

The last thing Ryan wanted to do was pressure her and he was sorry he asked even jokingly, he wanted her to take her time and to be sure. Both of them were still getting to know each other, while they had wonderful moments, they still danced around each other, unsure of how the other would react. It was a common uncertainty that accompanied most budding relationships, but they were an uncommon couple and had already faced more obstacles and than most couples face in a lifetime. They worked through some life and career threatening moments and came out with a better understanding of each other than dating for a year would have given them.

"I'm not going away and neither is the proposal. So speaking of doctors, did you make an appointment with a cardiologist yet?"

"On my list of things to do," said Annie who made a mental note to make an appointment ASAP since Joan said she also needed her to get rolling on medical clearance to work in the field.

"Would it be overstepping to go with you?"

"Um, no actually, (Annie smiled, it felt good to stop hiding her condition) you know I really wanted to be with you at your appointment this morning."

"I know," said Ryan with a smile, "Check with Costa before you make the appointment, he keeps my calendar updated."

"Will do. Listen I'd like to take the rest of the week off, you're my boss technically, so may I take Wednesday through Friday off?" asked Annie.

"A little vacation after the time we've had sounds great, where are we going?"

Annie laughs. "Who says I'm going somewhere and who says you're invited?"

Ryan is a little hurt by her quip. She wanted more time to think about his proposal and with this latest turn in the conversation he was getting the feeling that she was pulling away again. She tried in Argentina to put the breaks on their relationship and he managed to convince her otherwise. He sensed that she was keeping something from him and actively withdrawing.

"Are you still free for lunch or you want to be off the clock starting now?"

"No, I'll come in to finish entering my reports. And don't I have to fill out some paperwork to take time off?"

"Why? You just told me. This isn't the CIA, there's no mountain of paperwork in order to take a few days off."

"Oh, I'll see you in a bit then, I just have a stop to make first."

"A stop? Where? I can meet you off campus for lunch though the food here is pretty top notch."

Annie wasn't used to having to answer questions or having to account for her whereabouts after choosing to isolate herself from her family, friends, and colleagues. The bonus though was she didn't have to lie as often as she used to and she didn't want to lie to Ryan, but she wasn't quite ready to share everything with him just yet. She supposed after all her unconventional relationships that this was what it was like to be in a real relationship. Instead of telling Ryan the truth, she opted to be mysterious. "Aren't you the one who once said to me everyone's entitled to a secret or two? Maybe I want to get my eyebrows waxed or maybe I have some dry cleaning to pick up," responded Annie flirtatiously.

As he listened to her talk, he opened a software app on his computer and typed in a series of numbers and letters. It immediately brought up a map with a blinking red circle.

"You can do those things at the cemetery?" asked Ryan in disbelief.

Annie quickly checked her "six" or six o' clock again. She had just entered the cemetery grounds and was driving to her destination. Checking her "six" was a habit she picked up, almost second nature. She hadn't made mental note of anything out of the ordinary during her drive over from Langley.

"I know I'm not being followed, so how in the hell do you know where I am?"

"No, I'm not having you followed and if I were you wouldn't know it Walker. . ."

"Did you stash a GPS tracker on me?" demanded Annie who was starting to feel hot and bothered. Well this was an interesting turn thought Annie, sure she was being vague and dodgy, but if Ryan was the type to resort to tracking her, then she didn't know him at all.

"No, well, not exactly," said Ryan feeling a bit guilty.

"You better have a good explanation McQuaid, I'm serious."

"You know that standard issue skeleton key every McQuaid operative is given?"

"Yeah," said Annie looking at her key ring, which was hanging off her ignition.

"Each skeleton key is fitted with a GPS locater, it's a precaution to keep all my field operatives safe."

"Oh, I didn't know that," said Annie as she parked her car. She had reached her destination.

"It was written in all that paperwork you signed when you joined. Would you like me to go over your employment agreement with you? Sounds like you didn't study the paperwork. There's mandatory drug testing, annual firearms refresher and assessment, GPS tracker on all McQuaid vehicles and some weapons, do you want me to go on?"

"Guess I should have read all that carefully, but that doesn't explain why you're tracking me. . ."

"Okay, guilty, I wanted to know your ETA because I'm hungry and I was looking forward to having lunch with you."

Annie smiled, satisfied and relieved by his response. Even though Ryan had breakfast with Annie earlier that day and spent the last two nights with her, he missed her already. He was a man in love and when you're in love, being apart is more a distraction than being together.

"Can you wait another hour?"

"You plan on being at the cemetery that long? Who's buried there?" Ryan asked all the while wondering to himself why she felt the need to conceal her whereabouts from him.

Annie hesitated, Ryan knew she had been classified as dead by the CIA until recently, but beyond that, he didn't know about her months long quest to bring down Wilcox and what her quest to stop him cost her.

"I am."

Now Ryan is intrigued. He flashed back to meeting her. The file, the one he had requested and read about her before they met stated that she was dead, but he knew this to be untrue since he had just spoken to her on the phone. He never did find out the full story behind her death, he was cleared to know the details of many CIA operations, but he wasn't able to find much more information about Annie Walker after her death, which was classified an accident. There was a lot to Annie Walker he still didn't know, but he was hoping to find out.

"I'll meet you there with lunch." Ryan messaged Costa as he spoke to Annie. He directed him to pick up two of the day's sandwich specials, apples, chips, and sparkling waters from the cafeteria. Then he asked him to put the bags in his car.

"It's okay really, I'll be back in the office as soon as I can okay?"

"Walker, I'm starving, stay put, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Annie knew it was useless to argue and decided to let things play out with Ryan.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Feedback appreciated! Thanks for reading!

As soon as Annie ended the call with Ryan, she put on her sunglasses, grabbed her stylish trench coat and coral scarf then exited her car. She walked on the grass past a few other departed souls to the grave marked, "Annie Walker". She replayed Joan's offer as she stood near the symbol of her ultimate sacrifice. She was honestly surprised that Joan wanted her back at the CIA. She was even selling her on the job, but was it too late to go back? Had too much happened between them? The CIA and Joan had mistreated and mistrusted her so many times before. Was she better off building a career at McQuaid Securities? The pay and benefits were definitely better, the lack of red tape was refreshing and she'd continue to work closely with Ryan. She didn't want to admit it at first, but they made a great team. However, their relationship was so embryonic. Although Ryan was so confident about his feelings and their future, Annie wasn't sure if it would be long lasting, she had baggage from three failed relationships. Marriage was on the table and it honestly _scared_ her and losing him scared her the most. Was it a mistake to mix business and pleasure as she previously believed or was McQuaid right? Could she have it all?

Wouldn't it be awkward if she and McQuaid didn't make it and had to keep working together? She and Auggie managed to continue their friendship and working relationship after they ended their romantic relationship. It was rocky to say the least, but they managed to work through it as professionals. She figured she could do the same with Ryan if they didn't work out. None of her relationships had lasted long causing her to believe she wasn't made for commitment. She had sworn off relationships while she was on her self-imposed sabbatical, then Ryan came along and challenged her resolve regarding relationships. He was also waiting for an answer from her and she wasn't sure how long she could let the question hang.

Annie moved closer to her gravestone and found some dried up flowers and two faded drawings. She wondered when her family was last in town. She had been too busy since returning to D.C. to dwell on her family. While she was away, she drafted a detailed speech addressing Danielle and planned her approach meticulously. She would definitely find a time when Danielle was alone and wouldn't dream of just showing up when everyone was at home. Annie had prepared an explanation for why she put her big sister through hell and had readied herself for what was likely to be a painful reunion. But then she had that attack on the beach in French Polynesia and she couldn't do it anymore. She thought she was going to die for real. If she were dying, she might as well stay dead, so she scrapped her plans to fly to San Francisco and instead went to see Eyal in Jerusalem.

Once she had her condition controlled and was back in the States, she planned to make contact with Danielle, but then her work intensified in the aftermath of the Chicago bombing and was all consuming ever since. She barely had time to eat and exercise. When was she supposed to fly out to California? If she did go out to San Francisco, she'd probably have time to say, "Hi, I'm not dead after all. I have to go stop some terrorists now." It sounded ludicrous.

Approaching Danielle with the truth required time to explain herself, answer as many of her questions as she could without violating national security, and get reacquainted. But the more time passed, the harder it was to explain and expect understanding. Annie knew what she had to do, she had to be courageous, face Danielle and be prepared for her to not want her back in her life or the life of the girls. It was now or never, so Annie made up her mind to go to California.

Annie hesitated to look at the papers she found, but she finally lifted the rocks meant to keep them from blowing away and picked up the papers. They were drawings and a letter from Chloe and Katya. One was a drawing of them playing board games and painting toenails together. The other appeared to be a picture of Annie's favorite things, along with a letter. It read:

_"Dear Aunt Annie, _

_These things will always remind us of you, we wish you were still alive so we could hug you. We miss you and will never forget you! P.S. We hope you like the flowers, Mom let us pick them out._

_Love Chloe and Katya!" _

Tears welled up in Annie's eyes as she thought about her poor little nieces and the damage she left as a result of her pursuit of Henry Wilcox. Could she have done things differently? Could she have found another way? It really didn't seem like it at the time and she knew it was useless to keep asking these questions. What was done was done. Now she had to live with the repercussions of what she did to two innocent little girls and her loving big sister. Her actions seemed unforgiveable and the thought of all the pain and turmoil she caused filled her with deep sorrow.

When Ryan arrived with lunch and a picnic blanket, he didn't realize she had been crying when his voice boomed from behind her, "Lunch as promised!" Only when he stood next to Annie did he notice her reaching under her sunglasses to wipe away tears. Annie didn't want him to see her crying, so she tried to act as if nothing was wrong and said, "What'd you bring?"

He wasn't fooled and noticed her other hand clutching some drawings. He put down the bag and blanket he brought and took out his handkerchief and handed it to Annie without a word. She managed to say, "Thanks."

Ryan quickly spread out the blanket he brought and motioned for Annie to get onto it. Then he sat down and said, "Come here," as he rubbed her back and tried to comfort her. He didn't say anything, figuring he'd wait and let her start. Annie leaned into him and finally all the months of guilt, loneliness and longing for her family came out despite her efforts to keep them tamped down. She had no one while she was hunting Wilcox and she had no one during her little sabbatical in the South Pacific. When she came back, she distanced herself from her only friend Auggie and held it together to do her job, but now the tears just kept coming. Annie buried her face into Ryan's chest. She felt safe in his care and let it all come out. She didn't realize how exhausting and tough it was keeping everything all boxed up over the last few months.

Ryan had seen Annie's vulnerable side in Azerbaijan, prior to that she presented herself as tough and fiercely independent. Although he hated to see her in distress, he was glad she trusted him enough now to break down. She was there for him when his world was crashing down on him and now it was his turn to be her rock. He stayed there patiently holding onto her, rubbing her back and arm. Eventually Annie slowed down and handed Ryan the faded papers which she had folded on her lap and said, "I'm a terrible human being. . ."

Ryan unfolded the papers and looked at them. Now he understood that she was so upset because of the pain she had caused her family, they had gone there to mourn her and Annie was overwhelmed by guilt. "I take it Chloe and Katya are your nieces?"

Annie nodded. She had mentioned them to Ryan when he caught her looking at Danielle's Facebook page on the way home from Argentina. Whenever she missed her family and felt like torturing herself she would look at Danielle's Facebook page. It was blocked, but Annie could still see Danielle's profile picture which included the two little girls she loved as if they were her own.

"These pictures don't say you're a terrible person Annie Walker. You know what they tell me?"

Annie turned her body to look at Ryan still sniffling.

"What?"

"They say, you're a fun and fabulous aunt who spent quality time making memories with her nieces, you played games and painted nails with them. You love playing dress up, hiking, cupcakes, ice cream, BBQ, and the 4th of July. They have fond memories of you and that's something to be proud of."

Hearing Ryan made Annie tear up again. . . "Hey, hey, that was supposed to make you feel better."

Through her tears Annie said, "I haven't had much time to think about them since returning to D.C., but now that everything has settled down, I can't stop thinking about them and what I've put them through. I've lost people I care about. I know what it means to hurt, mourn and miss each and every one of them…but Chloe and Katya, they're just innocent children. How can they ever understand, hell, I don't think Danielle will understand."

"She will, she loves you and she'll understand. I take it they are the reason you've been preoccupied?" asked Ryan, relieved that it wasn't because she was having doubts about him.

Annie nodded.

"You don't know my sister, when I had to read her in on what I really did for a living she was livid and kicked me out, said I endangered her family, called me selfish, and you know what, she was right. . ."

"I'll go with you."

Annie shook her head, "No, I need to do this on my own and you have a firm to run."

"Annie, we're in this together. I want to support you the way I know you'd support me. You don't have to be alone remember?"

"I plan on flying out tomorrow. You can't drop everything and leave."

"That's the beauty of having my own company. Let's have lunch first and then we can talk about going to California."

"How romantic," said Annie. "Bet you never thought you'd be having a picnic at a grave."

"I used to eat at Kelly's regularly, birthday and anniversary meals you know. Sometimes I'd go just because I missed her and wanted to talk, she's here you know, on the other side of the cemetery."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, that was _so_ insensitive of me. I didn't know she was buried here."

"No, it's okay, it's been a few months since I stopped by actually. . . "

"Do you want to pay respects before we leave?"

Ryan looked over at Annie studying her for a few seconds before smiling and said, "I planned on stopping by before heading back to the office, it would be nice if you joined me."


	4. Chapter 4

Note: Thanks for the positive feedback. I'll try to live up to expectations. . .

Regarding CAFAN, thanks for your feedback! So my personal take of the bridge scene in BA was that Annie was trying to put on the brakes. . . It seemed in her character to do so. . .Annie started to say, "what makes us so great is what makes **this** so difficult. . ." When she was saying what makes "this" so difficult, my interpretation is that she was trying to put on the brakes to protect herself because she didn't want to lose him for real. I think she'd rather end their relationship than face him dying. . . kind of self preservation on her part. But then when she confided her fears about losing him and the fact she had lost people she loved, he simply said, "Then don't" and that got her. I think deep down we all want love and Annie wants it, but she's afraid to lose it again b/c of her past. Gosh, that line, "Then don't, got me. Two words, well acted by Nic Bishop. Love McQuaid's character! Thanks CA writers for crafting him up and none of these characters are mine. No infringement intended.

After finishing up her reports, Annie stopped by Ryan's office to let him know that she was heading home.

"He at an offsite meeting that is scheduled to go on for another hour. . . would be my guess, he said he'd call in when it ends." said Costa.

"Oh, didn't realize he left the building. Will you let him know that I'm heading home?"

"Um, by home do you mean his home or yours?" asked Costa without looking up from his typing.

Annie smiled uncomfortably, though they tried to maintain a professional relationship at work, it was hard to put anything past Ryan's trusty assistant.

"I'm going to my apartment, I'll see him when I return in a couple of days," responded Annie.

Costa, "You know he asked me to book _two_ seats to SFO for tomorrow morning. One of them is under your name so I think you'll be seeing him before you're back."

"Oh, I didn't know that, but I told him there was no need for him to go with me. I booked my own ticket already."

"I was just doing my job, you'll have to work out the details with him on that one."

"Thanks Costa," said Annie before walking away. She was sure she'd hear from Ryan before the night was over.

/ ~ /

Annie picked up a salad for dinner and headed home to pack for San Francisco. She barely spent any time in the apartment she hastily rented when she returned from Jerusalem. It had been just a place to crash in between trekking the world. When she returned from Argentina, she had only stopped by once to drop off her luggage and pick up some clean clothing to bring over to Ryan's. It was nice to finally be in her own space again.

She changed into comfortable clothes and started a load of laundry. Next, she checked the high and low temps in San Francisco on her phone and looked through her closet for appropriate outfits laying them out on her bed. She tossed a sports bra, yoga pants, and a moisture wicking athletic jacket into the pile too. She just needed her laundry to finish to complete packing. Annie went into her kitchen to take a break while she waited to advance the laundry to the dryer. She spent time tossing the expired items in her small fridge as she waited for the water to boil for her tea.

Suddenly, a knock came on her door. Annie wasn't expecting anyone and as old habits die hard, she cautiously approached her window to see who it was. When she noticed it was Auggie, she was so happy to see him. They had only seen each other once since she returned from Buenos Aires and it was brief because he needed time to decompress after nearly getting gassed to death. She hoped to see him while she was the DPD earlier that day, but was told he took a few days off.

Annie opened the door, invited him in and said, "I've been hoping to talk with you."

"Yeah, me too, that's why I'm here."

Auggie shared shocking news, he had quit the agency. Apparently his old friend Deckard gave him a lot to think about and he decided it was time he put himself and his relationships first. Annie felt it might have been a reaction to losing three very good friends, everything Belenko had done and threatened to do, and nearly dying that caused Auggie to make this bold move. She was very surprised because Auggie had been at the DPD since she started and she couldn't imagine being there without him. He was a career company man and she would have bet good money that he would retire from his job, however as his friend she was supportive and even excited for him and the journey ahead.

"Well my life's taken a couple of unexpected detours and I'm trying to right the ship," said Auggie.

Annie confided in Auggie that she had some big decisions to make herself and wasn't sure what she was going to do. Before he said good-bye Auggie helped her to follow her heart and trust her instincts. He had her close her eyes and look into her heart, when she opened her eyes, she knew what she wanted to do and said, "Got it," with a smile and look of confidence.

Truthfully she already knew what she wanted, but was afraid that it was all _too_ good to be real. She was afraid that one day it would all come crashing down as it had before. Annie she didn't know how to let anyone in anymore, at least not when she returned, but eventually she let Ryan in and he made it easy.

Auggie was being bold after his ordeal. She had been through more than one ordeal too. She faked her death to take down a dangerous man and she was left with heart condition that was the result of gun shot wounds, a byproduct of her job. She too needed to take a leap and be bold. She decided she'd accept Ryan's proposal and start living her life instead of fearing the worst was around the corner.

"Thanks Auggie, you always knew just what to say to help me figure things out."

"Nah, you always knew what you needed to do, you just needed confidence, at least that's how it was. Lately, you've been pretty kick-ass on your own and all I did was hamper you."

"That's not true, you have integrity Auggie and just had to get used to bending the rules a little," laughed Annie.

/ /

The two friends and former colleagues were in front of Annie's building waiting for Auggie's taxi when McQuaid drove up, tapped his horn twice, and parked. Annie wasn't expecting to see him, she figured he'd call, but at the same time, she wasn't surprised to see him either. Ever astute, Auggie leaned in towards Annie, their shoulders met, and then he said, "You're about to make him a very happy man."

Auggie couldn't see it, but he made her blush. . .

"Anderson! Looking good," said Ryan. "Thanks McQuaid and thanks again for everything you did back in Argentina. It was above and beyond," said Auggie.

"Just trying to keep up with her," said Ryan as he looked over at Annie who met his eyes with a smile.

"I wanted to cut Belenko loose and get the hell out of Dodge, but the intelligence angle said otherwise," quipped McQuaid.

"Let's not forget you had your own reasons for wanting to bring Belenko to justice," said Annie.

Auggie smiled and said, "Try to keep her outta trouble will ya?"

"Will do, stay safe Auggie," replied McQuaid giving Auggie a hearty slap to his back.

Annie hugged Auggie tightly and said, "Have a great trip with Natasha, send me a postcard or two okay?"

"You got it Walker," responded Auggie as Annie walked him to the taxi.

Ryan and Annie watched as Auggie's cab pulled away. She knew he couldn't see her waiting for the cab to take the next turn, but somehow she felt she needed to see him off fully. She was going to miss him and the DPD wasn't going to be the same without him there.

"Everything all right?" asked McQuaid as they turned toward her building's doors and into the stairwell. Annie smiled, "Everything's more than all right!"

"Really? Here I was thinking something was wrong."

Annie takes the lead going back to her apartment and Ryan follows behind.

"Nothing's wrong," said Annie with a smile.

"You shared a lot with me back at the cemetery and I thought we were going to California together, then you left Costa a message about seeing me when you get back, so I'm confused Annie."

"I know, but we've spent every night together since Buenos Aires and I needed to pack for my trip which isn't your responsibility or problem."

By now, they're inside Annie's apartment. She pulled out two beers and handed one to Ryan. He took it, but left it unopened. He felt they took one huge step forward and then two larger steps back. She puts her beer down too, unopened. They stare at each other from across her kitchen table.

"I just wanted some space to figure things out and focus on what I'm going to say to Danielle and…this isn't easy for me."

"What? Seeing Danielle or us?"

"Both."

Ryan sighs, "There's plenty of _space _at my place if that's what you need."

An exasperated Annie looked at Ryan and said, "You know that's not the kind of space I meant."

"I meant it when I said, I'd go with you. You're right it's not my responsibility or my problem, BUT, I want to be there for you and this is what a partnership is Walker. And selfishly, I'd love to meet your sister, maybe it would help me figure you out."

"Being with someone hasn't come easily for me, I have a lot of baggage Ryan, but I _want_ to be all in with you," said Annie. "I just need you to be patient."

"So are you saying you're willing to take the leap with me?" asked Ryan trying to contain his growing excitement.

Annie put on a serious face, she loved the man standing in her apartment and her biggest fear was losing another man she loved to her job and the life she committed to live. She didn't think she could survive another loss. The image of Ryan lying in the hospital bed and the fear that sailed through her body when she helplessly watched him fight with a live grenade were all too fresh in her mind.

"Taking leaps in the field has never been a problem for me, we're the same in that respect, but if we're going to be married, it means we can't carry on as if nothing's changed. We each will have another person to consider."

"I remember our conversation on the bridge," said Ryan seriously and walking around the table to close the gap between the two of them.

Annie took a moment, speaking about her feelings and especially her fears didn't come easily for her. "I don't want to clip your wings and I don't want mine clipped either, but in the short time we've been together, I've nearly lost you a number of times already and. . .I don't think I can handle losing another person I love. I'm not strong enough Ryan." She fought to remain composed.

"I get it Walker, I don't have a death wish, but you need to trust me and the decisions I make in the field just as I have _always_ trusted you and your abilities in the field. You have a heart condition and I have never once questioned your ability to get the job done, but that doesn't mean I don't worry about you."

"I made that appointment, it's in two weeks _and _I have plenty of injections."

"Which I hope you won't have to use," said McQuaid.

"So we have an understanding about personal safety?"

Ryan nodded and put his right hand up, "Scouts honor!"

Annie leaned in and kissed Ryan.

"So, you're agreeing to marry me?" asked Ryan eagerly.

Annie nodded, "I'm pretty sure Danielle will be more understanding about my resurrection if she gets to help me plan a wedding,"

"Oh, I see, you're only using me," said Ryan kissing her more passionately as he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He kissed her all the way to her bedroom.

"Yeah, I'm using you," whispered Annie as she unbuttoned his shirt while continuing to kiss him. They landed in bed and his fingertips trailed her face, he said between kisses to her lips, "You're stronger than you know Walker." Next his kisses moved down from her lips to her neck. She pulled her shirt over her head and he removed her bra and flung it over his shoulders as he reached into her drawer for a condom. They treat each others body with an extreme intensity before Annie stops to catch her breath causing Ryan to become apprehensive about continuing the pace of their lovemaking.

"Don't stop," she said.

"But you're out of breath!"

"Hasn't anyone ever taken your breath away?"

"Not literally," he said returning to the passionate pace they had achieved until they both reached the peak. Annie can't hide that she needed to breathe deeply, Ryan quickly got up to get her a glass of water and offered to get her injector as his hairs began to stand and dread filled his heart, but she shook her head. "I'm fine, really, that was fun," said Annie with a giggle and fast paced inhalations.

"Who's the reckless one now?" Ryan countered with a worried look. "I should have stopped earlier, let me get you your meds."

"Ryan, I can't let my condition stop me from celebrating with my fiancé. I'm already better," said Annie standing up to pick up her bra and underwear.

"Fiance? I like the sound of that, but you didn't have to keep going for my sake, would you lie back down," he reached out to feel her pulse and it was still rapid.

"I'm hungry, are you?"

He chuckled happily, "You stay put, I'll get us something." She had put him at ease and he was quite honestly happy beyond words that Annie accepted his proposal. He didn't think again about what just happened because she was just that convincing to him.

"There's a salad I bought in the fridge and some frozen lasagna," Annie called after him.

As soon as she was sure he was in the kitchen she reached into her nightstand drawer and pulled out an injector. When the medicine hit her veins the tightness in her chest began to dissipate. The breaths she took in were no longer shallow and she felt instant relief and dread at the same time. What was that all about thought Annie. . .


	5. Chapter 5

Annie hastily grabbed her underwear, scooted off her bed to where her bra landed and went to her bathroom to dispose of her used injector. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, she only ever needed the injections when she pushed her body too far running after someone, took a blow to her chest or during hand to hand combat. And even then there were times her body was able to handle exertion without any problems. What was she going to do if simply making love to Ryan resulted in needing her meds? She just agreed to a life-changing event thirty minutes ago and doubts were creeping in already.

Annie felt guilty for hiding the episode from Ryan, but she didn't want to worry him if it was just a fluke. She had an appointment in two weeks and she'd address her health concerns with the cardiologist then. If her myocarditis had worsened, she couldn't possibly marry Ryan. She couldn't do that to him _especially_ not after hearing him talk about his wife at her grave earlier in the day. Annie looked in the mirror and started to wonder if she should put off seeing Danielle too, but after a moment's consideration, she decided she couldn't put it off. There would be no good time if she kept thinking about it. And she so desperately wanted someone to talk to about Ryan and her illness. She missed having a sister to share ice cream, work issues, and dating woes with. Danielle always helped her keep things in perspective.

Annie brought her glass to the kitchen where Ryan was reading emails on his phone while waiting for the frozen lasagna to heat up. When he saw her, he put down his phone and wrapped his arms around her. He'd answer his emails later.

"You all right?"

"Never better!"

Ryan chuckled, she never would admit that she wasn't well and always put up a strong front. "I love you Annie Walker and you never need to pretend with me, be who you are, feel what you feel, tell me what's in your heart and on your mind, no matter what, you'll never lose me…or upset me by telling me the truth," said Ryan as he kissed the top of her head.

Annie smiled and put her cheek to his bare chest where she kissed him lightly, and said nothing but, "I love you too." She seemed to recall a time when she said something similar to Auggie.

"We should talk about a wedding date and where we'll live. I'm partial to my place, it's much roomier and paid off, but we could make it work here too," he said looking around Annie's small one bedroom apartment.

The meal was ready, so Annie got it out of the microwave and brought out two plates, napkins and utensils. Ryan opened the beers they had left on the counter and tossed the salad as Annie served the lasagna.

As they got their meal ready, Annie laughed, "Might not seem it, but I'm an old-fashioned girl, I need my own place until we get married officially. And I want to know how _one person_ who practically lives at his office or on his plane wound up with a 3500 square foot home on nearly an acre of land. It seems rather excessive even for a family of six! None of the homes I grew up in were anywhere near _half _the size of your mansion."

The couple sat and started to eat dinner.

"First , it's 3250 square feet on an acre and a half. There's a sloped area out back you haven't seen yet. . . So, a family of six? Does that mean we'll be having four kids because I'm up for that," said Ryan earnestly.

Being engaged again conjured up his past and memories of his first wife. He and Kelly thought they had plenty of time for kids since they were so young when they married and both had career aspirations to achieve first. Now, Ryan was in a good place in his life, his company was getting back on track and he was proud of the work he had done and would continue to do, but what he really wanted was to have a family of his own. He was happy to hear her talk about her nieces, but he wondered how Annie would feel about having kids, so he was glad she opened the door to bring it up.

"Whoa, buddy, we're not even married and I was only making a point about the size of your "estate". We can talk more when I get back."

"You mean when _we_ get back, I'd love to meet your sister." Annie wanted to steer clear away from any talk about the future, the past few months had been dangerous and unpredictable so she couldn't handle more than one major issue at a time. It would take her awhile to figure out how to balance work and a life outside of it. It's not like she ever really got the hang of it.

"You really don't give up do you?"

"Something you'll have to get used to."

"I do have something else to tell you. . ."

"Okay," replied Ryan.

"I wasn't going to tell just yet, but you know how you just said, I could tell you anything. . ."

Ryan nodded and waited quietly.

"So, your question wasn't the only one I made up my mind about."

McQuaid looked over at Annie, waiting for her to reveal more though he already had a feeling about what she was referring to.

Annie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened her eyes and quickly said, "I'm resigning from McQuaid Securities."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Joan's job offer would it?"

Again he surprised her with his keen ability to sniff out information. It was a bit unnerving at times. She punched him in his shoulder causing him to nearly fall off his stool.

"You sneak! How'd you find out? Nevermind, you asked Arthur didn't you? With Joan as his wife and you has his boss, that poor man's caught between a rock and a hard place."

"I might have poked around a bit, it's what happens when you keep things from me Walker! Which brings me to a point I want to make. . ."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" asked Annie taking a long sip of her beer.

"We need to be open, tell each other the truth, not keep things bottled up. I know you're used to being on your own and I know you can take care of yourself, but if we're going to be partners, then. . . "

Everything he just said caused a pit in Annie's stomach, she loved him for his honesty and emotional intelligence that she was often lacking, but she just kept having an episode from him. She had to compartmentalize though for now and wait until she had more information before coming clean about her heart.

"Ryan, I was going to tell you about the job offer, I just wanted some time to think about it without interference."

"No, you assumed I would have interfered, but I would have liked to know when something important or big happened to you."

"You've never hidden how you felt about the agency, but it's been a huge part of my life for the last six years. . ."

"I accept your resignation, my loss is the CIA's gain, but I got the better deal, if I had to pick, I'd rather have you as my wife than my field operative."

"You're not disappointed or upset?" asked Annie. She thought for sure he'd put up a fight and try to convince her to remain at his company.

"I'm _proud_ of you Walker. I'm no fan of the agency, but they are lucky to have someone like you and I'm glad they're going to do right by you. That said, if things should go south, you'll always have a job with McQuaid Securities."

It felt good to hear that he was proud of her and even better to hear that she'd always have a job.

The happy couple ate and Annie filled Ryan in on what she had learned about Danielle and Michael. They formed a plan for breaking the news to Danielle. Annie began to feel grateful for McQuaid's support. She canceled the flight she had booked for herself since McQuaid had two seats in First Class. After cleaning up their dinner dishes, Annie went back to packing.

Ryan sat on Annie's bed going through his emails as she finished up her laundry and completed packing her roller suitcase. Just before she closed up her bag, she went to her safe inside the floor panel of her closet. Ryan watched her as she opened it up and took out a weathered and thick journal. Annie brought it out and turned to a page with an old picture of Chloe and Katya. She lifted the picture out of the journal and showed it to Ryan. He took it from her and admired the picture of the adorable girls.

"They're not my own kids, but I love them as if they were. I was there for both their births. The image of those heads coming out of my sister's body was all the birth control I needed."

Ryan and Annie both laughed. . .

"Living with them reminded me so much of growing up with Danielle, I'm glad they have each other and hope they always will. God, I miss them and Thursday night dinners."

"This one looks a bit like you, has your nose and eyes." said Ryan. Annie smiled in agreement.

"What's in the rest of this thing?" asked Ryan as he started to flip through the pages of Annie's scrapbook. He saw a picture of a rugged looking man, a few postcards, a and notations that probably only meant something to Annie.

Annie deftly took the book out of Ryan's hands and said, "Memories, mementos, and silly sentimental stuff from my youthful travels." He thought it must not all be silly if she kept it in her safe.

"Maybe we can start our own silly sentimental scrapbook," said Ryan leaning in to kiss Annie. "Thanks for showing me the picture, I hope I get to be an uncle to them, those Thursday night dinners sound great. . ."

"Me too."

Annie took her journal back to the safe, a curious Ryan, followed behind. "What else you have in there?"

"What every spy has in their safe. It's all _very_ cliché."

Ryan looked past Annie's shoulder and saw a stack of passports. "The agency give you all those?"

"A half dozen that still work, I've been burned in some places, so I should bring most of what I have back to Langley and put them in a burn bag."

From his vantage point, he caught a glimpse of the contents of her safe. Ryan saw that she had cash in various currencies, the gun he had given her, and some files. Annie closed the safe and put the floor panel back over it. She turned around and said, "I'm done packing."

Ryan carried her luggage to his car and they drove back to his place where he packed and then sent emails to Costa to re-arrange his schedule for the next three days. Ryan called Arthur and spoke to him on the phone about representing him at a few meetings as he drove back to his home. Annie kept quiet during the car ride.

Once home Ryan answered an email from Joan who had questions after reviewing his statement on Caitlyn Cook. Joan also invited him along to witness Allan Langer's interrogation at a Federal prison. Ryan asked Joan if it could all wait until next week. . . right now Annie was his priority. The next morning they would be on the first flight out to SFO together.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Note:_**** Here's that reunion. . . feedback appreciated.**

**_Two Days Later in San Francisco_**

"I don't know who you think you are coming here with this claim, but if you don't leave RIGHT NOW I'm calling the police!" shouted Danielle as she went to her knife block and pulled out her biggest chef's knife while grabbing her phone from her back pocket. Wow, thought Ryan, she's just as fierce as Annie can be. . . , he was honestly scared to say a word. . .the last thing he wanted was for Danielle to call the police. . . so he thought carefully about his next step.

**_The day before. . ._**

Ryan and Annie flew into San Francisco arriving before noon, they got into their rental car and drove straight over the Golden Gate Bridge to the posh Mill Valley neighborhood where the Brooks family bought a home within the last year. They watched the Brooks home and followed Danielle out as she went to pick up the girls up from school and drove them to Tae Kwon Do class. Annie was impressed when she saw the girls in class, she felt so happy and proud to see them in action. Ryan enjoyed seeing the joy spread across Annie's typically serious and stoic face.

Michael landed a job at a healthcare start-up a couple of years ago and when it was acquired, Michael and Danielle became instant millionaires. His options garnered the family $15 million pre-taxes. Sadly, that wasn't enough to be considered rich among the Bay Area elite, but it was plenty for the family to be comfortable and buy a house in the crazy Bay Area real estate market. They set up trust funds for the girls and paid cash for the home so to avoid a mortgage payment. The stress and roller coaster ride of working for a start-up made all the sacrifice of moving to the Bay Area and countless late nights worth it for the family. They were able to send both girls to a private school, pay off all their debts and school loans, and Danielle got the home and kitchen of her dreams. They chose Marin County after living in San Francisco the first few years so that they would have a larger yard and room for a chicken coop and dog run. Danielle was tired of urban living after D.C. and then San Francisco. She longed to give the girls a stable and typical suburban childhood that she and Annie lacked.

Ryan and Annie followed Danielle and the girls back home after their class where they watched them eat a snack and start their homework before joining the neighborhood kids outside. They seemed so happy and normal, Annie wasn't sure she wanted to disrupt that. Danielle was in a good place, she saw them all greet Michael warmly when he arrived home from work. Danielle and Michael looked happy too. Annie wasn't sure how everything would unfold and this way she'd at least have images of them in her mind. The girls looked so grown up, taller, and more mature. Finally Ryan and Annie pulled away and drove against traffic back into San Francisco's Union Square.

"They look like a lot of fun to be around," said Ryan.

Annie smiled, "Yeah, Danielle was my rock even though I couldn't tell her everything, you don't know how many times hearing from her and the girls got me through missions."

After having dinner and discussing a plan for approaching Danielle, they turned in for the night. Annie slept restlessly and was awake for good by 3 a.m. PST. She couldn't eat a thing that Ryan ordered for breakfast. They drove back into Marin County before the sun was even up.

/ /

After watching Danielle return home from dropping the girls off, Ryan knocked on the Brooks' home saying he needed to talk to Danielle about her sister, Annie Walker.

"I'm sorry, have we met before? Were you one of the people at her funeral? I'm sorry if I don't remember, it was a difficult time and there were a lot of people I had never met who came up to me," said Danielle who was suspicious, but the man who stood before her was well dressed and clean-cut.

"No, we haven't, but I've heard a lot about you from your sister," said Ryan with a smile.

"So you were acquainted with my sister? For how long?"

"May we talk inside?"

Danielle was wary, but curious as she sized up the handsome man before her. There was something familiar about his face. She had gotten very few answers from the CIA about Annie's death, which they told her was a result of a plane crash while she was abroad, but something told her it was okay to invite him inside.

"I'm just working on some meal orders. Come on in."

Ryan looked back towards the parked car down the street where Annie was sitting and waiting. He stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Do you want some coffee?"

"No thanks." Ryan had one hand in his pocket playing as he stood nervously in front of Danielle.

"So, you knew my sister?"

"Maybe you should have a seat."

Danielle instantly regretted letting the stranger into her home. It was never good when someone started out by saying, "Have a seat." A tingle went down her spine as she thought about what she could use as a weapon, she started to back up towards knives. "No, I think I'll stay standing," she said firmly.

"I didn't know your sister, _I know her_, _I know her now_."

The words didn't quite register with Danielle because she was busy thinking of ways to keep herself safe, but once they did, she looked at Ryan confused.

He continued, "There's no easy way to say this Danielle, but Annie's alive."

The silence continued for another few seconds before Danielle started shouting at Ryan and threatening to call the police.

Annie who had been waiting in the car down the street continued to listen and waited for Ryan to signal her to enter. It didn't sound like it was going well. Ryan had a video message from Annie verifying his news. Annie figured this was the best way to reveal that she had faked her death so Danielle wouldn't be totally shocked by her showing up. She was actually glad Ryan was there to act as a go-between, but it turned out sending Ryan wasn't a good idea either as she heard Danielle shouting at him.

With his hands up, he spoke calmly to Danielle, "Calling the police won't be necessary, I'm telling you the truth, your sister is alive. She said to ask, 'Did you get the postcard she sent from Frankfurt?' She's been torn up over just how to tell you so she sent me because she didn't want to shock you by just showing up. I'm just reaching into my pocket for a video message she made you. . . "

Danielle thought if this man wanted to harm her, he had the chance to do so as soon as he closed the door and entered her home. He wanted something else. She watched as he took out his phone, she was curious, but still doubted his claim. He could be there because he thought she had information about Annie.

"Frankfurt, postcard? How do you know about that?"

"She told me to mention it." Danielle remembered receiving the cryptic postcard from Annie before she was notified of her death. At the time it didn't mean anything to her, just another one of Annie's postcards from her travels. But later when she was questioned by the CIA, she chose to keep it to herself. She didn't know why at the time. She just wanted to keep a bit of her sister to herself. The CIA already knew more about her baby sister than she did. It was her act of defiance to keep the postcard to herself. And it was a good thing she did. It was Wilcox's men who went to question Danielle back then. If they knew that Annie had communicated with Danielle she wouldn't have been safe.

"Yeah, a video that could have been made BEFORE SHE WAS KILLED, yeah you think I buy that accident bullshit? You're LYING, I buried her!"

"You don't work for the CIA, why are you here? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

He carefully placed his phone on the counter and backed away, "Please look at the video."

Danielle kept her eyes on Ryan and the knife ready. She pressed play and then saw and heard Annie. She was standing in front of the girls school holding today's newspaper, it was still dark out, the sun hadn't come up yet. . . Danielle started shaking and crying, the knife made a clang when he hit the kitchen floor. Annie started out by saying, "I love you Danielle and I love the girls so much, it hurt me so much to leave you all, I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I wanted you to know that I didn't die in a plane crash like they told you. I want to explain the reasons behind what I did and I hope you'll hear me out. Just remember that I love you so much and I've missed you. Don't forget that, no matter what."

Danielle looked at Ryan, "It looks and sounds like Annie, but she wouldn't send a _stranger_ with this news."

"Well, I'm not exactly a stranger, I'm her fiancé actually."

"Fiance? Oh, so she had time to date AND get engaged while she was playing dead? What's your name again?"

"Ryan, Ryan McQuaid."

"What happened to Auggie? How could she do this to Auggie? Oh God, does he know she's still alive?"

"Yes, he knows."

"I've got to speak to him, he must be torn up over this. . ." Then Danielle's wheels turn, "Oh God, did he know this whole time? That SON OF A BITCH, he lied to me, he planned her funeral with me. God dammit, WHERE IS SHE NOW?"

Annie had been listening to the entire conversation in their rental car down the street, but she walked towards the home when she heard Danielle threaten to call the police. And then she stopped in her tracks when Danielle mentioned Auggie. She hadn't talked with Ryan about Auggie though she suspected he knew about her past with him.

"I'm right here Danielle," said Annie who had entered the house. Danielle turned white, she steadied herself and suddenly needed to sit down. Ryan helped her to one of her kitchen stools.

Annie walked to the sink and got a glass of water for Danielle. She brought it to her as Danielle studied her. "How can this be? They said you died in a horrible plane crash, that you were too disfigured to even recognize, but you look fine." Annie wrapped her arms around Danielle who remained wooden, unmoved as Annie hugged her, she was simply in shock.

"I am fine and I know it's been a long time, but I'm here now and I want to explain myself."

The room was quiet for what seemed like forever as Annie and Danielle stared at each other. Everyone was filled with uncertainty until Danielle spoke.

"EXPLAIN YOURSELF?" shouted Danielle in disbelief.

"I know it's a lot to take in, what happened couldn't be helped. I needed to die for a mission and while I tried to save you from hearing about it, it had to _look real_ in order for me to nail a very very bad man."

"NO! NO! NO!" shouted Danielle. "You don't get to waltz back into my life, the life that's been HELL without you and tell me that national security and your job was more important to you than your only family in this world. The girls Annie, do you know how much they have missed you? How often they ask me questions about you? What am I supposed to tell them? How could you be so selfish? You were their legal guardian Annie! You were the one who was supposed to take care of them if anything happened to me and Michael."

"I know it's a lot to take in right now Danielle, but Annie's been through a lot too, she's done amazing work keeping this country safe and at great sacrifice to her own health, please hear her out," said Ryan.

"I'm sorry if I sound UNPATRIOTIC, but I don't give a shit about what you've done to keep this country safe. You know as sad as I was to leave D.C. I was relieved because I felt safer knowing there was distance between us. The second you joined the CIA, you literally brought danger to my doorstep."

"You were _never_ in danger, I made sure of it by dying Danielle, believe me, it wasn't an easy decision for me."

"Are you still working for them?"

Annie nodded.

"Then there's nothing you can say, you can STAY DEAD Annie!"

"Danielle, please. . ." said Ryan who looked over at Annie and saw the pain and hurt on her face.

"It's okay Ryan, let's go. . . I love you Danielle and I love Katya and Chloe, Michael too. I was going to have the gravesite taken down, but I'll keep it there for you, for them," said Annie as her voice cracked.

Annie walked out the door and once outside she broke into tears. She didn't expect open arms, but she also didn't expect to hear such harshness and hatred in Danielle's voice.

Ryan stayed back and offered Danielle his business card. "We're staying at the St. Francis in Union Square for the next couple of nights. Our flight back to D.C. is on Saturday. She's made a lot of sacrifices at great personal expense and in my book that makes her selfless not selfish. I had wanted to ask your blessing to marry Annie, but judging from how that went I take it you won't be making our wedding."

"What does McQuaid Securities do?" asked Danielle after glancing at Ryan's business card.

"We provide and assess security for multi-national companies, foreign countries, and our government."

"Sounds like code for mercenary. You two _deserve_ each other and Annie's never needed or wanted my blessing to do anything."


	7. Chapter 7

Danielle sat motionless in her kitchen after Ryan and Annie left. She was numb. Her day started out as it always did, a rush to wake the girls, make their lunches, and get them fed, dressed, and groomed for school. Michael left earlier than normal to beat the traffic for an all day healthcare policy meeting at Stanford. It always wound up a mad dash to the drop off lane at school. She got home and finally had her coffee and breakfast before preparing her meal orders for that day. Then that knock on her door interrupted her. Her day was all so normal, so comfortable and predictable until Ryan McQuaid and Annie showed up.

She tried for a long time to avoid the mental picture of her sister Annie inside her home. She didn't want to believe it, but the more she replayed the events since finding out Annie died, the more plausible it all seemed. Her sister was a spy for the CIA after all and she had doubts about the nature of Annie's death from the get-go. It seemed like she was living out the plot to a television show or something. It was all so surreal. She picked up the phone to call Michael a few times, but decided against it each time. Telling him didn't make any sense, telling him would make it real and she didn't want to believe it was real just yet.

Danielle decided to get back to work so she furiously finished up the desserts to go with the five meal orders she had for that day. She didn't need to work, but she discovered that it gave her something to do and she enjoyed it, so even after their windfall, she kept up her small catering business. She provided nutritious home cooked meals from locally sourced ingredients for a hefty sum and not surprisingly, the families Mill Valley were more than willing to pay. Danielle had to turn away orders, preferring to keep her business a small scale one.

Before she left to deliver the meals, she did some speed cleaning. It was her way to relax and decompress. By the time she was done, it didn't look like she spent the morning cooking. Her kitchen was picture perfect and ready for a photo shoot. But the more she cleaned, the more the anger she felt returned. She was so livid as she started thinking back to the shock of hearing that Annie had died. She remembered that day so vividly. And now would she remember _this day_ just as vividly? She had fantasized a thousand times that Annie's death wasn't true, but in her heart and mind she knew that it was impossible. She had demanded the truth from the CIA, but received nothing but reassurances that Annie had died in a horrible aviation accident. Auggie had convinced her that there was nothing more to it and she believed him. How could they do this to her? Danielle called Auggie, but her call went straight to voicemail. She wanted to give him hell, she was still so shocked and angry and the furious cleaning hadn't cured her of it.

Danielle glanced at her mantle where she kept a picture of her and her sister. She cried and turned the picture over not wanting to see Annie's face. It was just too painful. She needed to talk to Michael, but she wasn't sure how she would tell him. He wasn't going to believe it. She still didn't believe it. Danielle went back into the kitchen and looked at the business card Ryan handed her. She had a few minutes before she had to leave so she opened up her laptop and Googled "Ryan McQuaid." Immediately a number of articles popped up.

After seeing an article from Forbes, Danielle recalled why Ryan McQuaid looked so familiar to her, Michael had a subscription to Forbes magazine and she had skimmed an article about the man who earlier stood in her kitchen. Danielle nearly lost track of time reading about her sister's fiancé. The protective big sister in her wasn't sure she would have given her blessing for Annie to marry the man Forbes described as "a new breed of renaissance soldier turned entrepreneur who was just as much at ease in a board room or senate chamber giving an intelligence briefing as he was holding sniper rifle or piloting an assault helo into enemy territory."

From the looks of it, Ryan McQuaid was a multi-millionaire, but his job was high profile and he seemed like a thrill seeker. Danielle always hoped Annie would marry someone with a stable and boring job who would be her constant and keep her adventure seeking sister's feet on the ground. It looked like that wasn't going to happen if she married this man. Danielle stopped after a couple of articles on Ryan McQuaid, she supposed that they really did deserve each other, but what the big sister in her really wanted to do was warn Annie about marrying someone whose job was to traipse around the world stopping insurgencies and protecting high profile people who deliberately go to hostile territory.

Danielle grabbed her keys to make her deliveries and pick up the girls. When she saw her girls, she gave him a huge hug and the day's drama melted away for a time while she drove them to piano lessons. She left Michael a text saying that they needed to talk after they put the girls to bed. She couldn't keep this news to herself, she'd go crazy and she wanted her life partner's advice on what she should do. She knew she didn't want the girls to know about Annie's resurrection, it would be so confusing to them, but she wasn't sure what to do about her relationship with Annie. Could she really pretend she was dead now that she knew the truth?


	8. Chapter 8

Note: Some fluff and character development, couldn't resist, and I love the Bay Area!

Ryan walked out of the Brooks home with a heavy heart. He wasn't upset at Danielle for the reception she gave Annie, but he was protective of Annie too. He looked up and down the street for her and when he spotted her blond head in the passenger seat of their rental, he walked swiftly towards the car. Ryan settled himself into the driver seat and as he had done a few days before, he handed his handkerchief from the pocket inside his suit jacket to Annie.

"That went well, didn't it?" said Annie sarcastically. She had wanted to get as far away from the view of Danielle's house as possible, but Ryan had the keys.

"Let's get out of here okay?" asked Annie.

Ryan responded by placing the key in the ignition and driving out of the neighborhood towards the freeway. He had spent some time engaged in training exercises in the Bay Area a few years ago. As a result he spent about a month in the area that stretched from the Golden Gate down to Monterey Bay. One of his trademark skills was the ability to navigate any area with ease, even before the days of GPS or smart phones, McQuaid always had an excellent and innate sense of direction which proved useful in his profession. He had a few beautiful spots in mind to show Annie that might take her mind off the less than ideal reunion she just had with her sister.

Finally he said, "She'll come around, learning that you are alive was a shock, that's all. Everything Danielle said . . .don't to heart. I don't know all the details of your mission, but I know the level of security it's been classified gives me a good idea. You did something good for the agency Walker, don't forget that."

Annie who had held it together for a bit, couldn't compose herself any longer. She had been unemotional and detached for so long, but in the last few days, she probably cried more than she had cried when Ben left her and Simon died combined.

"I'm not so sure, what I did was _good_. . .I don't know what I expected, I got what I deserved…" she paused before she said, "I never should have come, it _was_ selfish, it was all for me, I needed her and now look what I did to her, I disrupted her beautifully normal life…"

Ryan had the ring in his pocket and while he hoped to make their engagement official with Danielle's blessing, he'd have to move forward with his plan without her. He was thinking of driving to either Muir Woods or somewhere in the Marin Headlands since they were on the north side of the Golden Gate, but as she continued to cry he realized it wasn't the right time to make things official. Normally, he would keep quiet and let her figure things out and make the first move, but he couldn't this time. He pulled over just before they reached the freeway. He took her hand into his and gently wiped away her tears. "You're a lot of things Walker and selfish isn't one of them. In the time I've known you, you've been the antithesis of selfish, in fact, you're too selfless, you put everyone and everything above yourself. My job now is to make sure you realize your worth and that you start taking care of yourself a little. There's no crime in that and you have nothing to feel guilty about."

Annie took in Ryan's words, he was always able to speak to her heart and say what she needed to hear at just the right time and she loved him for it.

"Want to walk around this town or go to Muir Woods? Suppose to be beautiful there. I believe Muir once said, 'Earth has no sorrow that earth can not heal'."

Ryan could still surprise Annie, "Where'd you pull that out of?"

"What? I read and I do love the wilderness, so what do you say?"

"Right now, I don't think anything can cure my sorrows."

"Ah, but you haven't experienced this place."

"I like the woods, but the ocean always speaks to me. . ."

"If that's the case, I know a spot or two that will leave you speechless and maybe give you some respite from what just happened," said Ryan.

"I'm just not in the mood, can we go back to the city?"

"Humor me okay? I won't even try to talk you out of beating yourself up again," said Ryan with a wink.

Ryan put the key back in the ignition and headed south as Annie looked out the window. She tried her best to keep it together while she recalled the few big fights she had had with Danielle and how crummy she felt each of those times, but this time was different. She felt she didn't deserve forgiveness, but she was hoping for it. Realizing that she might never reconcile with Danielle left her with a terrible void.

After about fifteen minutes of driving, McQuaid turned off a bit before the Golden Gate bridge and parked in a spot with a breathtakingly beautiful view. Annie looked over to him and smiled weakly, he had listened to what she had said, taken it in as usual. He brought her to see the ocean where she always found a measure of peace and solace. They got out of the car to admire the view of the Golden Gate on one side and the expansive Pacific behind them. He was right thought Annie. It was a something else. He had brought her to Point Bonita in the Marin Headlands and it was still early enough that not many tourists were there.

"Let's take a walk, I want to show you the _last_ manned lighthouse on the California coast and _the only_ lighthouse that can only be reached by crossing a suspension bridge."

"You're just a fount of facts," said Annie.

"I love history and the ocean. . .we have a love for the sea in common." Ryan motioned towards the expanse, "That there is one of the reasons I became a SEAL. I always felt at home in God's swimming pool," said McQuaid.

Annie still had Danielle and the girls on her mind, but she did want to see this lighthouse and the views were amazing!

"We're hardly dressed for a hike, you're in a suit and I have heels on," said Annie.

"I bet you can do a lot in heels, don't tell me you've never given chase in heels? Where's your sense of adventure Walker?"

"Come on, we'll go slow," said Ryan.

He took her hand and led her to the trail and with each bend the view that came into sight surpassed the last. It was simply gorgeous. They could see a sorts of sea birds, harbor seals and in the distance spouting whales. They admired the rocky shore and treacherous swells together.

"I spent nearly a month training in the waters around this bay a few years ago, so I got to know the area well."

"I thought SEALS trained farther south in Coronado?" asked Annie.

"This wasn't for the SEALS, it was after I left, for JSOC. We needed to perfect ocean approaches in treacherous waters."

"You trained in those waters?" asked an impressed Annie as she looked down at the waves violently hitting the rocky shore. There was still a lot she had to learn about her fiancé. "Wow, looks pretty challenging, near impossible to get on shore."

"It was and after we had to scale the cliff. I bruised a few ribs and we almost lost a couple of men on more than one occasion. You know that scar under my chin is from some outcropping a bit farther down that way," said McQuaid pointing south.

"Was the mission you were training for a success?" wondered Annie out loud.

"Yes, it was in fact. NO casualties on our end. Turned out to be a cake walk compared to training here, I suppose I made it difficult on purpose."

Ryan didn't realize that the conversation brought Annie back to her concern over the perils McQuaid faced when he couldn't resist getting his hands dirty and going into the field. She heard he only went into the field if there were big stakes like what happened when he discovered that the CIA linked one of his former Flint contractors to the bombing of the Chicago facility. Having been in the field with him during some perilous times taught her that he truly enjoyed the action and thrived on the stress like she did. She supposed she wasn't exactly cautious either and usually delved into missions regardless of the risk at stake or lack of intel. She had made many choices that Auggie wouldn't have or tried to talk her out of.

Annie had a taste of what it was like waiting for McQuaid to recover from his gunshot wounds. Then again when he purposely landed in prison in Argentina. She found it really didn't suit her to be on that end of missions. She was a nervous wreck waiting for him just as Auggie must have felt while she went on countless missions abroad. And that line of thinking brought her back to Danielle. She understood how Danielle must have worried for her after she read her in on what she really did. She finally grasped what it meant to worry for someone she loved. If Danielle needed to protect herself by remaining distant and refusing to acknowledge that she was alive, she _had_ to accept it. It wasn't in her control. At least this way, her sister wouldn't have to worry about her ever again and Annie wouldn't feel guilty about putting her family through any anxiety. Standing there, taking in the scent of the ocean and the blue gray waters of the Pacific brought her some comfort. She was glad McQuaid brought her there.

The suspension bridge leading to the Point Bonita Lighthouse was closed which disappointed McQuaid. It was only open to the public on weekends, but the mischievous part of Ryan gave her a devil may care look and started climbing over the gate. Annie looked at him and a curl formed on her lips, she kicked off her heels, picked them up, then took his extended hand and climbed over the gate as well. They walked over the shaky bridge to the lighthouse and spent some time looking at the ocean for whales and other wildlife. Ryan pointed out interesting sights and rattled off more facts about the San Francisco Bay. The lighthouse itself was locked and as much as Ryan wanted to show it to Annie, he stopped at breaking and entering a National Park site. It would have been a beautiful spot to propose, but again, it wasn't the right time. Nevertheless, Ryan enjoyed sharing the views with Annie.

"Do you think the men who manned the lighthouse were bored or ecstatic to be out here day in and day out?"

"I don't know. . . I could never grow tired of the ocean, but at the same time, I need to do more than keep a light on and sound a horn."

"We could come back properly attired and walk along the cliff and then down to the beach. There are a couple of old munitions batteries just a few hundred yards away and some more majestic views," said Ryan.

Annie smiled. "Maybe we can walk just a little. Thanks for bringing me here. It was just what I needed," said Annie as she leaned into Ryan's shoulder. He kissed the top of her head as they watched the waves crest.

It was a typical foggy day in the city by the bay, a beautiful blanket of fog surrounded the Golden Gate, but was beginning to burn off. They walked along the cliff and down to one of the old batteries that protected the California coast before heading back into the city.

When they arrived back at their hotel, the valet took the car keys from Ryan as he walked to the curb where Annie stood.

"Sorry to have wasted your time, let's pack up and get an earlier flight back home."

"Being here with you isn't a waste. Everything Danielle said was a knee-jerk reaction, give her some time. It's only because she loves you so much that she's so hurt and raw."

"I need to do something, I can't just sit around here. I'll call Joan to let her know I'm taking the job. If we get back home on the last flight out, maybe I can start tomorrow. . ."

Ryan thought for a moment that she only knows how to escape her problems by throwing herself into work. Took one to know one, he was the same. He took her hands, "We both have the time off. No one's chasing us with guns and we've got no one to haul in, so I say we enjoy ourselves. The hotel is booked for two more nights. We could see some more sights, eat good food, and relax. If you want we could take a day trip to Napa or Sonoma and shore up my wine collection or head to other parts of the coast? I know some lovely spots in Half Moon Bay or Carmel."

Ryan was ever positive and adept at turning a bad situation into a good one. She loved how he balanced her often negative and gloomy outlook. "Next you'll tell me you have safe houses in all those places. . ."

He winked, "I might, but we're on vacation and when we're on vacation, we steer clear of safe houses…" Next Ryan pulled Annie in and locked his hands behind her back, "Come on, let's walk around and find a place for lunch." So instead of going back up to their hotel room, they had lunch at a quiet café off one of the small side streets near Union Square.

After lunch they walked by Tiffany's and Ryan asked Annie inside to look at engagement rings. He tried to get her to put on a huge three carat ring. Annie said she liked to keep things simple not flashy, but in the back of her mind her episode the other night made her hesitant about officially wearing a ring. Ryan noticed she was uncomfortable trying on the rings, but he persisted, pointing out rings he thought she might like.

"I really don't want or need a huge or expensive ring. I probably won't be able to wear it while working anyway and I know I don't need to explain why to you." In the covert world no spy revealed anything personal and that meant no engagement or wedding rings, "I understand, but I want you to have something nice when you are off duty."

"Are you sure you still want to marry me after meeting my sister?"

"Nothing could change my mind."

"I've NEVER seen her so angry. Danielle was more like a second mom to me growing up than a sister, but when I came back from my travels and moved into their cottage, we were more like friends than ever before. At least that's how I felt about her, she still sees me as her kid sister, impulsive, crazy and wild. She's called me selfish on many occasions and it still stings no matter how many times I hear it."

"Siblings have a way of getting under our skin."

"Tell me about your family."

"Wait until you get in on a flag football game with my family and my mom banned Scrabble from holiday gatherings so we do Texas Hold' Em now and wager the family heirlooms she's set aside for each us when she dies, it drives her nuts. At least we have that in common, we love driving mom nuts."

"I can't wait to meet them."

"I'm keeping you to myself until the wedding Walker, once you meet them you're liable to run for the hills."

"If they're anything like you, then I know I'll like them."

"So none of these rings catch your eye?"

"No and they are outrageously priced Ryan. I'm sorry if I don't seem excited about our engagement. My mind's just elsewhere now."

"I understand, ever been on the cable cars? It's a must-do while in San Francisco, but I've never ridden one. How about we take the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf and have the complete tourist experience."

The couple walked to the nearest cable car stop. Ryan had been thinking about the best time to pop the question since they got on the plane. He had the ring to back it up in his pocket, but the timing just wasn't right yet. He wanted to help her shake off her melancholy mood first.

/ /

Annie woke up while it was still dark out. She was on East Coast time and not wanting to disturb Ryan, she went into the living area of their suite and starred out onto Union Square for a few minutes. Last night Ryan had told her that the Dewey Memorial in the middle of the Square was a tribute to Navy sailors, it commemorated the U.S.'s victory over Spanish forces in the Philippines during the Spanish-American war. Annie looked at the statue on top of a woman holding a trident and a wreath before turning on her laptop and bringing up Danielle's food and recipe blog. She was torturing herself, but while she was away, she discovered that Danielle started a food and recipe blog that had amassed a huge social media following. She made simple everyday dishes and documented the steps with beautiful pictures and sometimes videos making it easy for _anyone_ to replicate the meals. She also posted reviews about restaurants she had enjoyed.

In the "About Me" section of her blog, Danielle had dedicated her blog to Annie. She wrote that her sister was a terrible cook and she was the inspiration behind her blog that made recipes fool proof. It made Annie laugh and cry when she first discovered Danielle's blog. She signed up for updates via one of her aliases, Andrea Quinn and looked forward to each new post. Sometimes she even posted a comment about one of Danielle's restaurant reviews or recipes. It seemed a sneaky way to connect with her sister, but she was always thrilled when Danielle responded to her comments.

While she enjoyed hearing Danielle's voice in the blog posts and reading the step-by-step recipes, Annie hadn't had the time to actually try any of the recipes. If reading and comprehending were all it took, Annie had learned a lot about cooking from Danielle's blog and she couldn't wait to actually try cooking something when she got home. Ryan could be her guinea pig.

The door to the bedroom opened up and Ryan emerged shirtless in just his boxer shorts. "You're not one to sleep in are you?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"Neither are you."

"I did sleep in, I'm normally up around 6, but it's only 3:30 here, what are you doing?" asked Ryan as he walked over to where Annie was sitting and looked on her computer screen. He saw Danielle's picture on the "About Me" page of her blog and scanned the first paragraph before Annie closed her laptop.

"Nothing."

"Stop torturing yourself Walker."

"I'm not, reading her blog is as close as I'm going to get to her so. . .I won't apologize for it."

"I didn't mean it as a criticism, I just don't like seeing you like this, come on, let's go back to bed for a bit," said Ryan holding out his hand to Annie.

"Once I'm up, I can't get back to sleep."

"Who said anything about sleeping?" Ryan shot back with a naughty look in his eyes, which Annie found irresistible though she was afraid of having another episode while making love to Ryan.

Annie kept the pace of their encounter slow and gentle unlike the other day. Ryan found the way Annie's gentle and deliberate movements hot and erotic. He had no idea she was purposely pacing herself in her effort to avoid having an attack. He writhed and moaned as she moved herself gently and gradually before he flipped her over on her back and took control. On her part Annie felt relieved when they finished playing around and her breathing and heart rate remained normal. She didn't mind that she never got to the place of pleasure she had reached the other day. It was a sacrifice she'd made many times before with other men, but faking it with Ryan wasn't a sacrifice, she was happy he was satisfied. Ryan asked as Annie rested her head on his chest, "What do you want to do when the sun gets up?"

"I read about this amazing prayer labyrinth inside Grace Cathedral, it's just half a mile up the hill from here. It's not open until 8 a.m. and it's only 4 o'clock now. Maybe, we go for a run and end there? We can run to Fort Mason or the Ferry Building. Danielle wrote about the Ferry Building and the amazing food and groceries there."

Ryan played with her hair sensing her need to connect with Danielle and he wanted that for her, he knew she didn't want him to interfere, but he planned on sending Danielle an email as soon as he was alone.

"Church? We should talk about our religious beliefs," smiled Ryan who grew up in the Roman Catholic Church. His call sign had once been Altar Boy.

"I've always found old churches peaceful, even comforting, I go every so often to enjoy the architecture, pray, think, and meditate."

"Really? Annie Walker who never needs anyone, who is an island to herself . . . I'm surprised," questioned an astonished McQuaid.

"God is a different story. . ."

"Well, that's a pleasant surprise Annie Walker because my Irish Catholic mother is going to _love_ hearing that you partake in dialogue with God."

"Irish Catholic, I'm surprised."

"What does that mean?"

"Just, you're so irreverent sometimes. . . I'm Episcopalian, your mom might not like that part."

"Oh Episcopalian is pretty much Catholicism except your clergy get to marry."

"That's oversimplifying things quite a bit McQuaid!"

He laughed, "Maybe religion shouldn't be the first topic of conversation when you meet her, but there's plenty she'll love about you."

Annie starts to get up, "I'll get changed."

"It's barely 4:30 am Walker, this is a vacation remember? You just said the church doesn't open until 8am, you really want to run around for three and half hours?"

"I'm not much for just lounging around Ryan, you sure you can keep up with me?"

"Let's just lie here for a bit, someone has to teach you the art of relaxing and doing nothing," said Ryan.

"I can't see you doing nothing," said Annie.

"Work hard, play hard, a little R &amp; R, and start all over," said Ryan.

It turned out Annie was emotionally and physically exhausted. She fell back asleep in Ryan's arms. She slept for another two hours until 6:30 when she woke to an empty bed. Ryan snuck out of bed earlier to check his emails and review ongoing mission reports. He wasn't so great about relaxing himself. His company and his work had been his life for so long. He also took the time to email Danielle about giving Annie a chance to tell her story. He wanted to let her know about Annie's heart condition, thinking it might make Danielle want to see Annie, but he decided against it. It wasn't his story to tell.

Annie emerged in her workout clothes and said sheepishly, "I guess I was tired afterall."

He handed her a glass of orange juice, he had ordered a light breakfast for them of oatmeal and yogurt. "Was that so hard to admit?" asked Ryan.

"Have a bite, I'll go change, just don't leave me in the dust okay?"


	9. Chapter 9

Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Let me know what you think!

Annie and Ryan set out while the city was still waking up, the commute rush had hot hit the peak yet. They chose to run a route that would take them down to the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building. They took in the view of the Bay Bridge and decided they'd definitely go back for some oysters later that day. To reach the lovely Grace Cathedral, they had to run to the neighborhood aptly named Nob Hill. The competitive part of Annie ran ahead though she started to feel tightness in her chest a couple of blocks ago. It was familiar, but she told herself she could handle it. The last stretch was extremely challenging, even for McQuaid who wasn't battling a heart condition. When they finally made it up the hill to Grace Cathedral, Annie was completely out of breath. She had pushed her way up the hill and it was just too much for her heart to handle. She stopped and put her hands to her knees while bent over.

As she clutched her left arm, Ryan helped her inside the church where they found a seat. He took her CamelBack tube and stretched it to her mouth while watching her struggle to breathe. Annie thought, she would be okay, she didn't pass out so that was a good sign. On his part, McQuaid couldn't mask his growing panic and concern. Ryan dug into his CamelBack's pocket and whipped out one of Annie's injections surprising and confusing Annie at the same time. He was there after she passed out in Venezuela as she fought Borz Altan and he saw what an attack looked like up close in Azerbaijan. What he was witnessing in that moment appeared to be the onset of something terrible. Worried she was about to pass out he administered her injection through her labored protest.

Annie felt instantaneous relief as the medicine pulsed through her body. She looked at him and asked through deep breaths and a hoarse voice, "You carry around my medication?"

"Oh, I think it came in pretty handy just now," said Ryan sharply. "It's f—(he sucked in his breath and stopped himself from dropping the f-bomb, his mother taught him to be respectful around a lady and inside a church) irresponsible of you to go anywhere without your meds. What would you have done if you were alone?"

"Relax, I have one here," she pointed to her warm up suit jacket's pocket.

"For the love of God, why didn't you use it?" asked a frustrated and flabbergasted Ryan.

"I wanted to work through it," said Annie, still out of breath. It was her second episode in the matter of days, they were becoming more frequent and she couldn't ignore it. She planned on calling the doctor as soon as she got home to see if he could squeeze her in earlier.

"It didn't look like you could work though it to me," shot back Ryan shocking Annie. She felt like she was being reprimanded and she didn't like it. She was too used to being on her own and not having to answer for any of her actions. Having her independence questioned was difficult for Annie.

"So you're a doctor too? I would have managed on my own," Annie snapped back.

"Why do you push yourself to the limit when you don't have to? Never mind, don't answer," shouted Ryan standing up and turning on his phone to look up cardiologists in San Francisco.

"What are you doing?" asked Annie who was just as pissed off.

"We're going to see a doctor _today_," said Ryan. Suddenly Annie realized that his irritation and worry came from a place of caring. He loved her, she knew that and felt so conflicted. She needed someone like him, he was good for her in so many ways, but doubt lingered. . .

"I made an appointment, it's the week after next. I'm fine to wait until then," said Annie, her annoyance having dissipated. She looked up into his eyes from where she was still seated because she wasn't sure if she could stand on her own. He averted his eyes and went back to his phone screen and the listing of cardiologists that came up. He dialed one at UCSF. She stood up, balancing herself on the pillar next to her and took his phone, ending the call. Ryan gave her a "What the hell?" look.

"Ryan, let's have a seat," said Annie softly.

Reluctantly, he stopped trying to call a doctor and took a seat with Annie. They both settle back down into the pew as Annie took a deep breath and said, "I don't think you can go down this road with me, my myocarditis is stressing you out and that's the last thing I want to do to you. I love you but. . ."

Ryan immediately cut her off, he didn't want to let her get the words out, "That's not what's going on here Walker. I know what your condition means, I've done my research remember?"

"I think I'm not the only one with baggage here, you weren't around to take care of Kelly and now you want to take charge of me and my health. I appreciate that Ryan, but I _don't_ have cancer and I'm _not_ dying. Maybe we took the leap with our eyes closed. . . "

He was floored that she saw right through him and his deepest fears and regrets. He wasn't there to take care of Kelly until the very end when it was really too late. He was away on a mission and didn't know until the cancer had won and ravaged her body beyond the help of chemo or radiation.

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Back in Argentina, you said, you didn't want to lose me, but I'm really afraid of something happening to you too. I know you're capable of taking care of yourself, I just want you to be more conservative."

She looked up at him remembering her own fears over losing him to his job, "I know. . . and I don't want to fight about this, I have enough to handle with Danielle angry with me, but you don't have to worry so much about me."

"Was that our first fight?"

"It wasn't our first argument, I seem to remember some others."

"I'm good as long as it isn't our last argument Walker. I'm still all in and I hope you are too," said Ryan looking at her intensely.

Annie looked into his eyes and landed a soft kiss on his lips, then said, "Shall we do this prayer walk now?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked rubbing her back.

She nodded, so he led the way into the maze.

As he entered the labyrinth he prayed, asking for God's wisdom. At the end of it he turned around and waited for her to finish walking and then got on one knee and presented her with the ring he had been carrying around. Annie was completely shocked to see him on one knee. The few other patrons at the church turn to watch too. Annie was nearly blinded by the size of the diamonds glistening in the light, "Ryan it's too much, I'm not sure I can after what just happened. . . there's so much uncertainty. . ."

"Nothing could be too much for you Walker and this is exactly what I want after what just happened, I want to show you that I don't want to lose you and no matter what the condition of your heart, I love you Annie Walker and would love YOU to call me your husband, would you do me the honor of being _my_ wife?"

For a moment Annie felt like she was in a dream. She wanted to end things just moments before when she saw how torn up and upset Ryan was, but she fought her own worst self-loathing and pessimistic outlook. She loved him and she couldn't help it. As much as she wanted to avoid another painful loss, she _wanted _to say yes and she _needed _him. She had no one and here he was, perfect in every way, he was understanding, patient, and loving despite her faults and issues. For the first time in a long time, she believed in a happily ever after, she thought, damn that heart of hers, it was going to get fixed and she was going to be okay. It felt like forever to Ryan, but he was over the moon when Annie put aside all her reservations said, "Yes!"

She bent down and kissed him eliciting the few other patrons to clap and congratulate them.

The newly engaged couple sat in a pew together taking it all in. Ryan though happy is still concerned about Annie. "So, can we talk now about your condition? You really need to take care of yourself. You didn't have to run up the hill, there's no need to prove anything. I've been reading about the treatment options and surgery is the most promising for a full recovery," said Ryan.

"I know, but it's risky too."

"There's a new procedure that's minimally invasive."

Annie appreciated his love and concern and the fact that he spent time researching and reading about treatment options. She said, "I will see the doctor, we'll deal with it after that, it's a condition of my employment with the CIA anyway."

"I'm glad Joan won't send you into the field with your condition in flux, but regardless you need to take care of it for your own quality of life. I want to run, ski, hike, swim, and go on adventures with my wife. There are two good surgeons in DC. I know it's your body and your choice, but we're going to be partners for life and I want what's best for you."

Annie nodded as she listened to him. Ryan's phone vibrated, it was a local number. He told Annie he had to take the call and stepped outside.

Annie remained inside taking in the beautiful church and what just happened. She stared at her enormous ring, still shocked that she was officially an engaged woman.

/ /

Ryan answered his phone, "Ryan McQuaid"

"Uh, this is Danielle Brooks, Annie's sister."

"Hello Danielle," said Ryan excitedly.

"You're not surprised to hear from me are you?"

"No, I figured you'd come around. Annie wanted to head back to D.C. yesterday, but I convinced her to stick around and take in the sights because I was banking on you calling."

"Guess she picked a pretty astute guy."

"How are you doing?"

"Still shocked and confused. . .my house is clean as a whistle, I can tell you that. Obsessive cleaning helps me, but I can't let Annie leave with the words I said in her head. I know her and she won't stop dwelling on them. . .I don't have a number for her, I mean she was dead afterall, so. . ."

"Well, you can tell her yourself. She'd love to see you and talk, we had a morning run and ended up at Grace Cathedral. Do you know where it is?"

"Every good Episcopalian knows Grace, she's still an early bird huh?"

"She was up at 3 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep, tossed and turned all night actually, but eventually she fell back to sleep for another couple of hours, she's exhausted Danielle."

"I'm not sure I'm ready to see her face to face without getting angry all over again. It might just be easier over the phone."

"Tell you what, I'll keep her here for another hour or so, if you're not here, we'll be heading back to the hotel to shower before we hit a couple of museums and go back to the Ferry Building. Just text me and I'll tell you where we are, but I won't let Annie know to expect you in case…"

"In case I chicken out?"

"This isn't easy for any of you, but you're all the family she has Danielle and she loves you so much. She needs people, she has me, but she'd really love to have her sister."

Danielle hesitated on the other end. Ryan said, "You have my number. Call me anytime you want to speak. But I sure hope to see you here before we leave."

Danielle wondered if a man like McQuaid could really be a source of stability for Annie. So far, it seemed like he was looking out for her little sister and she appreciated that. Danielle had just dropped her girls off at school, she sat there in her car trying to figure out if she should head into the city or not.


	10. Chapter 10

Note: Thank you for the reviews, feeling so honored that you enjoy the story!

While Ryan went off to talk to Danielle, Annie sat looking at the ring he had just given her. She was happy for the first time in a long time, but it was bittersweet without Danielle to share it with. Danielle daydreamed and obsessed about Annie's wedding more than Annie ever did. She would have enjoyed planning all the details from choosing the venue to the menu to the flowers. Danielle would be in her element as maid of honor and de facto wedding planner. On her part, Annie would be completely content with a civil ceremony followed by a small intimate dinner party or even barbeque with an ice cream sundae bar. She alluded to that with McQuaid, but he as usual wanted to an extravagant affair where he would spare no expense.

Annie looked at her watch, it was nearly 11:30 back in D.C. She had one decision that was now official and it was time to make another one official. She took out her phone and dialed Joan Campbell's direct line.

"Joan Campbell," said Joan as she picked up the phone.

"It's me Annie."

"Hello Annie, how are you enjoying your down time?"

"I'm good, taking in some sights and getting some exercise. Listen, I wanted to let you know that I made up my mind about your offer."

"What will it be Annie?" asked Joan.

"You can count me in."

"We're lucky to have you on board, you're an exceptional agent. Your experience and insight will expedite our investigations."

"Thanks Joan. Looking forward to getting back to work."

"The good ones can't stay away for long. I can't send you anything via email, but I'll have tech support set up your computer and give you access to mission files and the notes we have on ongoing investigations. Most files will only be accessible here at Langley. I'll also talk to HR about your status. I might be able to convince them that your suspension and resignation were all part of the last mission. You may have to take a baseline polygraph though."

"That's fine Joan. I have something else that I need to tell you."

"What is it Annie?"

"I need to put in a close and continuing. . . " Joan was smiling on the other end. She knew that Ryan and Annie had grown close during joint operations and all the mission reports suggested that Annie and Ryan had been intimate. Arthur had also confirmed that Ryan had been digging into Annie's past since he met her. If they were a couple, they would be a powerhouse much like her and Arthur, but Joan more than anyone knew the drama and complications that accompany working with a significant other. There were many times when she felt her marriage couldn't weather the storms at work.

"If it's with Ryan McQuaid, I don't think I need to tell you that you may be asked to keep him in the dark about our missions, our intel, and what we uncover. And you may be asked to gather intel on him and his company. I know how hard it can be to compartmentalize since I do it all the time with Arthur and it has been harder now that he's in the private sector. You can always talk to me when things get sticky."

"I appreciate that Joan. I'll see you on Monday morning then," Annie hung up feeling optimistic about her future despite the fact that things didn't quite go well in San Francisco. Ryan and the CIA would be her life and she was going to give it everything she had. She grateful for her new job and the fresh start she would have with Joan.

"Welcome aboard Annie and enjoy the rest of your time off."

/ /

Ryan returned from his call with Danielle. "Who was that?" asked Annie.

"Just a work thing, all done."

"What about you? Who were you on the phone with?"

"I thought I'd round out the day by officially taking the CIA's job offer, I start on Monday," smiled Annie.

"Congratulations, they better treat you with respect or I'll poach you back," said Ryan as he kissed her on the lips.

"Monday huh? Doesn't leave us much time to enjoy ourselves."

"Oh look who's talking, you took a work call and I know you're itching to get on your computer."

Ryan returned, "Just to prove you wrong, there's a self-guided tour on the church history, architecture, and stained glass. Are you interested?"

"_Am I interested?_ The real question is _are you_?"

"I am and even if I weren't I'd be interested for you. Haven't you ever had a guy do things just because he wanted to spend time with you?"

Ryan was truly interested, but he also had to keep them there in case Danielle showed up. The couple finished the self-guided tour about 45 minutes later and Annie said, "I don't know about you, but I could use a shower." Ryan felt like he let her down, he failed to convince Danielle to show up, but at least Annie didn't know about it and wouldn't be disappointed or hurt by Danielle's not showing up. They get up to walk out of the Cathedral when they run into Danielle entering and looking around for Annie.

"You knew she was on her way didn't you?" asked Annie with a mix of hesitation and anticipation.

He gave her a wink and said, "I love you," then walked towards Danielle. Annie was still too stunned to say a thing, she hadn't moved from where she stood. She really didn't expect to see Danielle.

"Danielle, nice to see you again. Thanks for coming," said Ryan warmly greeting Danielle.

"Uh, I'm not sure what I was thinking, but next thing I knew I wound up on the bridge. . .and here I am," said Danielle a bit flustered. She felt warm and unsure of what to do or say.

Annie looked at him and was filled with gratitude to have him there with her though she insisted on coming to San Francisco alone at first, she really did need someone there with her. She mouthed, "Thank you," to Ryan.

"Annie, you'll be okay?" asked Ryan as he rubbed her arm. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave her given that she just had an episode not too long ago.

Annie nodded.

"How about you Danielle, you sure you'll be okay? I can stay and referee if needed," said Ryan while looking at Danielle with a smile.

Danielle looked at Ryan and said, "You picked a choice location, I won't be yelling or using profanity here."

Annie kissed him and said, "Thanks, I'll walk back, promise."

He looked at her, kissed her back and whispered, "You better walk Walker, we'll talk more later. And you have your meds right?" She nodded while widening her eyes as if to say, let's NOT talk about that now.

He understood what was unspoken between them and then looked over to Danielle.

"Take your time ladies, I'll just be working back at the room. If you two get hungry and want to have lunch, give me a call."

Before he left them he said to Danielle, "Thank you for showing up."

She smiled and he said, "I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

The exchange between Annie and Ryan didn't go unnoticed by Danielle. Something was going on between them. She always knew her little sister, but for now she didn't want to get distracted by what was going on between the two lovers, she came to say her peace and leave.

"Maybe you can help Annie set a date and convince her that a secret closed door wedding is so cliché for a spy and not fitting for a once in a lifetime event."

Danielle smiled, Ryan had charmed her. . . but, she still had reservations about her sister marrying a career soldier turned mercenary.


	11. Chapter 11

When Ryan walked back to the hotel Annie and Danielle were alone for the first time in years. The two sisters looked at each other nervously as they walked around the historic church. Danielle finally broke the ice by stopping and turning to Annie. She simply threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly. The embrace seemed to break a dam in both women as they began to weep using each other's shoulders to muffle their flood of emotions. Annie felt the movements of Danielle's body as she cried. Witnessing her sister's heartache only made Annie sob harder. She was barely audible, but Danielle could make out the words, "I'm so sorry, I'm soo soo sorry," over and over as if it were on a looped recording.

"Shh, Shh, I'm sorry too," said Danielle through her own tears. They wept together in a secluded corner of the church for what seemed like hours.

The two eventually unlocked from their embrace and when Danielle recovered, she said through a still shaky voice, "Let me get a good look at that rock!"

Annie laughed as she dried her tears on the cuffs of her jacket sleeves. "So you noticed."

"Um, how could one _not_ notice that? I saw it as soon as I walked into the church. It's gorgeous Annie! He has excellent and expensive taste, I'll give him that," said Danielle as she held Annie's hand and looked at the shiny platinum ring and flawless diamond.

"You don't think it's too much? I mean, I'm wearing something that is probably worth more than any house we lived in growing up."

"Well, it's definitely hard to not notice. . . I'm glad he can take care of you financially, but. . ."

"But what? I thought you'd be thrilled that I finally found someone to settle down with, you were always telling me to get over Ben and then pushing me to date different people."

"Never mind, I didn't come to talk about your love life Annie," sighed Danielle getting back to reality and the reason she hauled herself into the city at rush hour. The sisters found a quiet spot inside the cathedral to sit down.

"Okay, I've braced myself for a long time. Give it to me Danielle, I deserve it all," said Annie looking down at her running shoes.

"I love you and it's a miracle that you're alive. I still can't quite believe it, sitting here with you is so surreal, you don't know how much I hoped that it was all a horrible nightmare, that I'd wake up and you'd come through the door for breakfast, but now that it's real, I don't know how to process this so. . ."

"You can't have me in your life," stated Annie.

"It sounds harsh, I know, but I just can't. . .I can't deal with it and I can't have the fear that people will come after us any day. I wish I never knew what you did for a living."

Annie thought back to what Eyal had once told her about how his ex-wife left him because he told her too much about his work. Eyal's ex-wife thought it was selfish that he went off and left her to worry about him back at home.

"Danielle, I understand, don't feel guilty, I appreciate your honesty, I certainly haven't been honest with you and I know it's a cop out to say it's because of my job, I can't change what happened. I can promise to respect your wishes," said Annie. She was sad, but she completely understood her sister's need to protect herself and her family.

Danielle felt tears welling up again. She felt like crap, turning her back on her sister was going to be hard. She loved Annie so very much, but she was still so hurt and disappointed in her. Was there no way she could have contacted her to let her know she was really okay?

"Look, Ryan will be my emergency contact at the agency. If anything happens in the future, he can contact you and you'll know about me," said Annie.

Danielle sat there next to her sister imagining what her life would be like after Annie left now that she knew she was alive. Could she go through the motions of her daily life knowing Annie was out there? Could she really keep herself from calling her or video chatting with her?

"You know what I missed the most?" asked Danielle after a couple of minutes of silence.

_Almost in unison_ they both say, "Having ice cream together."

For Danielle, having moments with her sister a couple of nights a week kept her going. Annie lived with them during the years when Danielle was still getting the hang of juggling motherhood and being a single parent due to heavy business travel. She felt hers was a thankless endeavor after her days juggling her daughters' social, extracurricular and school calendars while dealing with mountains of laundry and dishes. When dealing with Michael's job loss and infidelity Danielle realized she needed to get her own life and work on her own happiness outside of her family. She envied Annie and her job at the Smithsonian and her ability to fly off to exotic locations. Annie helped her realize that she couldn't lose herself in her role as a stay at home mom. It wasn't one thing or the other. She could be mother AND something else and do both well, she was always grateful for their late night conversations and indulgence of ice cream.

The two sisters started laughing. Danielle looked over to her little sister, it was going to be difficult to go on knowing she was out there and not having regular contact. She reached out and tucked Annie's hair back behind her ears and said, "Losing you was harder than anything I've gone through, but it made me stronger, braver, and more willing to take risks in my own life."

The guilt that washed over Annie was horrible. They were close, very close. Danielle practically raised her. She didn't want to cause Danielle any more pain.

"Do you want to go get some ice cream?" asked Danielle. Annie was surprised that Danielle wanted to spend more time together after saying her peace, but on her part, Danielle figured if this was going to be the last day she spent with Annie for the foreseeable future, they might as well do something together that they enjoyed.

"Can we eat it out of the carton like we used to? We can pick some up along with lunch and bring it back to the hotel. . .Ryan won't mind."

Danielle nodded as she looked at her watch. "Sure, my meter is about to run out anyway."

/ /

Ryan heard the door open while he was on a conference call with Joan and Arthur Campbell. He asked them to hold on and then put the phone on mute. The girls looked giddy with excitement and Ryan while puzzled was glad. He was sure he'd get the whole story later. He greeted Annie and Danielle with a warm smile. He noticed they had grocery bags of ice cream and assorted junk food. He also smelled a delicious scent coming from one of the bags. He was hungry and wanted to spend time with them, but he excused himself briefly and went into the room to finish up his call with the Campbells.

/ /

Ryan went into the bedroom and got back on the phone to finish up his conference call. The girls had returned to the suite at a point where tension had begun to build during Ryan's call with the DPD. Joan's task force had questions on Flint and Ryan and Arthur were trying to protect the black ops group that Ryan secretly headed. Technically even Arthur wasn't privy to his high level clandestine operations through Flint, but he was Ryan's second in command now and he had learned a thing or two from his contacts during the investigation into McQuaid and his company.

Joan demanded files on Allan Langer and Borz Altan as well as a number of unnamed operatives that she suspected had been linked to Flint. She specifically wanted the name of the man Caitlyn Cook killed at the bunker as well as the nameless men involved in Auggie's kidnapping. There was no stone she would leave unturned as she and her Task Force studied how Belenko was able to amass such a deep web of connections to people with high levels of clearance in both the U.S and Russia. The Russians feared him and the CIA didn't even have him on their radar until the recent weeks. This was a huge security breach to study and learn from and if there are others out there who were in any way connected, Joan and her Task Force was going to flesh them out and haul them in because she couldn't afford for any of Belenko's associates or co-conspirators to be free.

Joan and her task force were also trying to establish a history of how Caitlyn Cook was able to turn these men for Belenko. They were mostly former and decorated American soldiers. She wanted to see what other terrorist acts or plans they were linked to and how much had been compromised at McQuaid Securities. Ryan was doing his own internal investigation and trying to protect an ongoing Flint operation at the Syrian border. He couldn't afford any more evidence linking Flint to Chicago and the mess that followed. The President, Pentagon, DOD, and DIA counted on Flint and for years to do the work that couldn't be linked to the American government.

McQuaid was never linked to his own shadow organization until recently and only a handful of people knew about his connection to Flint. He had to keep Joan's inquiry under control. "Okay Joan, I get that you and your team are digging deep. I'll give you what I can, but I need your word that you'll keep Flint under wraps."

"You have my word, but I also need to know that you'll be forthcoming with information as it pertains to our investigation and I trust that you will be professional given your personal connection with a member of my team."

"Yes, don't we all have a lot in common now? I'll try to be back in D.C. as soon as possible. I'll give you a call to look over those files onsite tomorrow and we can talk more about Allan Langer's interrogation then."

"Fine, I'll be expecting you at my office." It was another Saturday Joan would be working, but this was her life, she hoped Arthur could stay home with Mac. Joan hung up. She'd talk to Arthur about his schedule later.

"Arthur, you still on?" asks McQuaid.

"Yes, still here."

"Can you talk to your wife? We can't afford any more scrutiny, that applies to McQuaid Securities, but especially to Flint. Can you help me out?"

"Ah, Joan can be unyielding, but she understands we have some common goals here too. She's just trying to dig deep, but I'll talk to her."

"Thanks Arthur."

"So, you and Annie?"

"Yeah, made it official Arthur. Any advice?"

"Don't lie if you don't have to. It's a tool of last resort."

"Appreciate it Arthur."

"See you back here."

"Bye."

Ryan would have to break it to Annie that he needed to get back to D.C. on the red-eye that night. She'd have to understand and accept that his life's work was on the line and he had to give it his all. Ryan had to stop what he feared would turn into a witch hunt and possibly an airing of Flint's work that could jeopardize a current operation and the reputation and lives of many American patriots.

/ /

Ryan came out from the bedroom and saw the girls smiling and giggling while standing over the counter in the small kitchenette area. He was happy to see Annie so relaxed.

"We started with dessert," smiled Annie with a mouthful of Chunky Monkey.

"We bought some Banh mi and Vietnamese Spring Rolls. There's a grilled chicken, a grilled pork, a combo, and two orders of shrimp rolls," said Danielle. She continued, "The place makes the best Banh mi! You have to try it."

"I love Vietnamese food, so I'll just help myself, you ladies want to sit down and join me or are you too full from the ice cream?"

They girls put the tops back on the ice cream cartons and while Annie placed them in the freezer, Danielle brought the bags over to the suite's dining room table.

"I have to eat and run, I need to pick up the girls by 3:30. It's Friday Fun night, we're going to make pizzas and watch a movie. I have to go make some dough." Picturing the Brooks family made Annie feel warm inside. She wished she could be part of it, but Danielle made herself clear while they were picking up lunch.

"I'm guessing you girls are on the mend?"

"Well it's not that simple, but I decided we both needed to have a little fun after everything that's happened over the last year."

"So you ladies want some space and more time? I tell you what, Annie stay the whole weekend, I can call and extend the room for one more night or get another if this one is booked. The two of you can get reacquainted and do more sister stuff."

The girls hadn't thought of that idea.

Ryan continued, "I'll rebook your flight for Sunday and mine for tonight, how does that sound?" Ryan was genuine in his offer, he loved seeing Annie with her sister and he got a glimpse into what she was like before her recent experiences. He didn't feel he was being manipulative, just using the opportunity in everyone's favor. He needed to head back home and this was a win-win proposal.

"I don't know. I have to get the girls from school, Michael can't get off work early to get them. They also have soccer games on Saturday and then . . .a birthday party."

"Come back after you get them and have dinner then, you girls are used to staying up all night gabbing aren't you?" said Ryan. One of his best skills was the ability to charm people into doing things. "I can still spend the day with Annie and have dinner with her, then she can drop me off for the red-eye and you girls can run up the tab here, it's all on me."

Annie looked at Ryan, she was so happy in that moment. She couldn't believe that she was with Danielle and her future husband, it all seemed so normal, her life was getting back on track after the many detours she had taken. He was being so thoughtful and generous and she loved him for it. She hoped Danielle would agree to the proposition.

Danielle looked at Annie. They had only been together about three hours and it wasn't nearly enough to talk about everything and ask all her questions. She wanted to know what Annie had been up to the whole time she played dead, how she met Ryan, what happened with Auggie, and why she didn't call her or send her another postcard. This weekend might be her only chance to get answers.

"I need to call Michael first and discuss it over with him."

"Sure, you can use the bedroom," said McQuaid pointing Danielle towards the door.

Annie and Ryan share a hug as they looked out onto Union Square together. "You think she'll stay?"

"I'm good at reading people and I think she really wants to," responded Ryan as he put his arm behind Annie's back.

"Thanks for the offer, but it means we won't get to go back to Point Bonita and drive up to Sonoma."

"We have a lifetime together Walker and if your family is on this coast, we'll be back."

Annie smiled and kissed him. She hoped that she could have that night and the next day and night with Danielle.


	12. Chapter 12

Note: A little fluff and setting up conflict and complications. Thank you for reviewing.

Danielle went into the bedroom and called Michael. "So how is she?" he asked.

"The same and different all at once. I can't put my finger on it. She says she can't tell me everything, that part hasn't changed."

Danielle continued to fill Michael in on her morning and talked over the proposal on the table. He was more than supportive of her spending the weekend with Annie. He even told her to skip dinner and the movie, but Danielle insisted on not disrupting their family tradition. "You could pick up the girls and get dinner ready with them and then head back to the city when I get home."

Danielle thought about Michael's suggestion. . .

"Don't you think the longer I spend time with her, the harder it will be? I feel like I should just say good-bye now," said Danielle.

"It's going to result in more therapy either way hon," said Michael with a chuckle.

"I can't believe you're joking about this!" retorted Danielle before she laughed herself.

"You love her, how many times did you tell me that you wish you had spent more time with her after our move? You two talked about taking a girls getaway trip, but never planned it because life got in the way, here's your chance. You have my full support and Lord knows we have the money for you to spend the weekend at the St. Francis."

"Oh, Ryan McQuaid has that covered, he's being _very_ generous," said Danielle.

"I know you Danielle, you don't like the man."

"From what I see, he adores Annie and has been nothing but personable, generous and kind to me, but she needs someone who's not . . ."

"In the same line of work, I like, well, all the more reason to spend the time with Annie, get reacquainted with her and get to know this man," said Michael.

While Danielle was listening to Michael, her eyes went towards the open laptop on the desk. She noticed a boarding pass on the screen. It was for a flight out of SFO _that night_. Danielle was puzzled, Ryan said he could change his flight if she agreed to stay. She wondered if he was that good at reading the situation and changed the flight when she showed up in the hotel room or if he had ulterior motive for getting home sooner. She saw that the other tabs on the screen were on cardiologists and prognosis and treatment for myocarditis.

Danielle remembered the odd exchange she witnessed between Annie and Ryan before he left the church, she wondered what was going on. Michael had a point, if she stayed she could find out more about what happened to Annie and this McQuaid character.

"You know I'm usually not one to throw caution to the wind, but I'm going to do it. I'll stay with Annie for the weekend. Thanks for talking it through. I love you."

"Love you too. See you at home."

/ /

Back in the living and dining area of the suite, Ryan rubbed Annie's back as they looked out the window. "You were fine after I left?"

"I'm not sure fine is the right word, but we cried and laughed and cried some more. I'm usually not emotional even in the most dire of circumstances, but this last week, I don't know what's going on."

"I was asking about your heart, but there's no need for you to apologize or feel guilty for being human Walker, emotions and tears aren't a sign of weakness," smiled Ryan. "I'd say you're entitled given the circumstances."

"Thanks," said Annie leaning into his side.

"So how are you physically?"

"My pulse has been normal and my breathing even, let's just see what the doc says," said Annie. "Please don't worry about me."

"I can call and get you an appointment sooner."

"I got the first available appointment," replied Annie.

"Let me see what I can do, what's money good for if you don't use it?"

"Ryan, that doesn't seem right to me and to people who have been waiting who don't have money. . .people who don't have money at their disposal to get in line faster or get better service, where's the equity in that?"

"It's _our_ money now and I wouldn't think of taking someone else's appointment, just getting the doc to squeeze you in that's all." Ryan wondered what Annie really thought of him for a moment, her comment about equity and people who don't have funds at their disposal bothered him. He was born wealthier than most Americans, but he wasn't apologetic about being rich or owning nice things, he had earned the vast majority of his wealth through hard work and sacrifice, lots of sacrifice.

I spent some time while you were with Danielle adding your name to my credit card and bank accounts. AMEX, Visa and Debit cards with your name should be at home when you get back. We need to make time to sit down and talk more about merging our lives, but everything that's mine is yours."

"Don't your lawyers want me to sign a pre-nup? I don't mind you know."

"Excuse me?" asked Ryan. He didn't understand why she was asking.

"You're set for life, I have a government pension, about 100K in my savings account, and tens of thousands in graduate school debt before I "died". I don't own a home, just an old sportscar and a motorcycle. The one I drive now is leased."

"A motorcycle? I didn't know that, guess I'm not surprised, that's pretty hot Walker, we need to go riding together," said Ryan. "100K isn't chump change Walker, maybe I need to sign a pre-nup" joked McQuaid.

"It's blood money, cash rewards from the CIA over the years for my exemplary 'service'. I've been thinking about paying off my school debt though technically I'm dead to them. I'll donate the rest, just doesn't seem right to keep it for myself."

Ryan found Annie's view of money and selflessness intriguing. He had noticed that Arthur too had misgivings about making money from intelligence. They were an interesting breed, patriots for sure, but they had this moral high ground as government employees, they did get off on the sacrifice. He wasn't afraid of money or having it and using it to his advantage and he certainly didn't feel guilty making it off of the government, he sacrificed too. Ryan personally donated roughly 15% of his personal earnings through a charity fund he set up in his dead wife's name, and McQuaid Securities participated in a host of charity drives and events, from serving food at homeless shelters to beautification of schools in rough neighborhoods to collecting toys and gifts around the holidays. He held his tongue instead of arguing with her about attitude towards her cash awards.

"How much do you owe for school? We should pay it off, you're probably paying more in loan interest than you're earning in a savings account, we're better off paying it off."

"We? It's my debt and I can take care of it myself. Why don't you talk to your lawyers about that pre-nup. I don't want anyone to think I'm marrying you for your money."

Annie had moved away from Ryan, she felt uncomfortable. She had been independent her whole life, both she and Danielle worked jobs as soon as they could to have extra spending money. Annie saved her money up for travel mostly.

"No need," said Ryan firmly. He used the opportunity to bring up Annie's safe. "Looked like you had a decent stash of cash in your safe too, how many stashes do you have around the world anyway, we could compare and contrast," laughed McQuaid.

"I've got enough to elope and have a low key honeymoon in Belize since the bride's side pays for the wedding."

Weddings posed a unique source of stress as two families and two individuals merged. Annie was young, but she remembered the stress caused by Danielle's wedding to Michael. She was hoping to avoid all of that by having a small intimate wedding.

"Oh we're back to eloping?" questioned Ryan who turned to face Annie. He stopped and became serious, "Marriage is sacred to me, divorce isn't in my vocabulary. When I proposed, I meant it Walker, this is for keeps. I don't need a pre-nup."

"Okay then," said Annie. "Now can I convince you to agree to a small wedding?"

"Maybe. . .how do you plan on persuading me?"

As Annie started to kiss Ryan, the two were interrupted by the sound of the door to the bedroom opening up.

"Oh you two lovebirds sure you want to be separated?"

"Sorry, we were just. . ." said Annie. Ryan interrupted and said, "We were just talking wedding plans."

"No need to explain," said Danielle.

"So what will it be?" asked Ryan.

"I decided to come back later tonight," said Danielle with a smile.

Annie had a huge smile on her face too and rushed over to Danielle. "That makes me so happy!" The sisters hugged and both thanked Ryan in unison. "We have a lot to talk about," said Danielle.

Ryan had noticed the two girls finish each other's sentences earlier over lunch. Annie's happiness brought him joy and he hoped he could make her happy too.

/ /

Danielle set out to pick up the girls, she'd be back at the hotel later that night. Ryan packed up his things and finished up his work while Annie showered and got out of her workout clothes. When she finished showering she called Joan again. She wanted to do everything right this time around and she needed to report that she had reunited with her sister.

"Well, I guess this is Annie Walker on vacation," said Joan when she picked up the phone. She recognized Annie's number.

"Hi again Joan."

"What's the matter?"

"A new development I wanted to report. Trying to do everything on the up and up like you requested Joan."

"What is it?" asked Joan.

"I'm in San Francisco actually, I came to see my sister and break it to her that I'm alive."

"Oh, that's great news Annie. I'm very supportive of that."

"It didn't go so well at first, but I wanted to put her on my close and continuing list too. I understand what I can and can't reveal to her, but I'd like for Langley to keep an eye on my family."

"Oh I have been Annie."

"You have?"

"Yes, we flag anything unusual and there hasn't been anything."

"Thanks Joan."

"You're welcome Annie and thank you for letting me know, before you go, I have a question as long as I have you on the line."

"Sure, how can I help?"

"When you and Auggie were investigating McQuaid, did you find anything on Belenko, Langer and Altan?"

Annie walked away from the door to the bathroom and turned on the faucet. She replied to Joan in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, we cloned his personal laptop. There were encrypted files on all Flint operatives, that's how we found out he lied about knowing Borz for just a short time, but there nothing on Belenko"

"Where's the information now?"

"I imagine Auggie has it on his personal laptop, he didn't turn it in? Was it in his reports?"

"No, he didn't," said Joan with irritation. "He just quit and left everything at his desk, but I don't believe he left his personal laptop. I'll check before I contact him."

"I can just ask Ryan for the files."

"Done, he wouldn't give them up and I suspect he doesn't know you and Auggie cloned his computer," said Joan, a hidden warning sounded off in her voice.

"What's this about Joan? Ryan's cleared, McQuaid and Flint are all on the up and up."

"Yes, but we're not leaving any stone unturned. We're looking for leaks and points of weakness and any indication of other plots. You'll find out more when you come in the office on Monday. Enjoy your reunion with your sister."

Annie hung up feeling confused. She dried her hair and left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.

When Ryan saw her going towards the closet, he said, "Don't waste your time getting dressed just yet."

"Oh?"

"You know what this look reminds me of?" asked Ryan approaching her.

Annie smiled. She remembered. "Your safehouse in Maracaibo?"

"Umm hmm and I wanted to do this to you then," he said as he reached for her face and kissed her forehead and then moved slowly to her nose and then lips.

"You're beautiful, so gorgeous and I can't believe you'll be Mrs. Ryan McQuaid soon," said Ryan as he took her hand and kissed it, he kissed her arm, moved up to her shoulder, neck and then her ear. She let out a soft moan as he untucked her towel and started to touch her breasts as he kissed her. In the back of her mind she remembered the episode she had at her apartment a few nights ago. He started to take off his pants as she started to work on his shirt.

"I won't see you until Sunday night. . .I'm going to miss you," said Ryan as he moved his lips to her breasts and backed her into the overstuffed chair near the bed.

"It's just two nights and two days, you can't wait that long?" asked Annie as turned them around so he sat down into the chair.

"Not when I see you in nothing but a towel, no," said Ryan as he linked her hands in his and kissed her body that leaned over him. Her face and the sounds coming from her mouth couldn't hide her reaction to what he was doing.

She sat on top of him with her legs on the outside of each of his thighs. They were face to face and moving in sync. He held her with one hand while the other ran over her breast as they kissed each other fiercely.

"Are you okay?" asked Ryan when he felt the strong beating of her heart against his chest.

"More than okay," replied Annie looking into his eyes as they both felt the deep physical result of their love for each other. She felt beads of sweat on her forehead, got off of him and said, "I think I need another shower now."

"Don't go yet, stay with me a bit," said Ryan. "Let's finish that conversation about our wedding. I have a feeling after we get back to D.C. you'll be too busy to make plans."

"Do you know something I don't?" asked Annie?

"No, no" said Ryan backing up. Annie didn't know what Joan was working on yet and Ryan thought there was no reason to reveal anything if not asked.

"Just saying we both hit the ground running, so while we're on vacation, we should settle some wedding details." Annie felt a bit weak, she was trying to keep her breathing as even as possible. "I'll be right back, just let me get some clothes on," said Annie.

Ryan felt she was trying to avoid talking about their wedding because they were obviously disagreeing about the wedding and money. He wanted her to be happy so he said, "It's your day, so you can decide all the details, but you don't have to pay for it alone. We can go 50/50 if that's what you want, money shouldn't be a factor in your planning through," said McQuaid in the direction of the closet. "We can keep it small _and _fancy. . ."

Inside the closet Annie heard Ryan as she bent over and put her head between her knees trying to breathe deeply. She started to feel better, the familiar dizziness didn't overcome her, so she kept taking deep breaths as she got dressed.

/ /

Annie and Ryan went to the nearby Asian Art Museum. They enjoyed spending their last moments together and ended with a lovely romantic dinner at Foreign Cinema where one of McQuaid's favorite movies of all time was playing, The Maltese Falcon.

"You're a bit like Bogart you know," said Annie.

"You flatter me, so let's look at our calendars and set a date."

"I haven't started working yet, can I see what's in store for me at Langley first? I have no idea if I have any travel coming up. . ."

"Okay, but we can pencil in a date or two can't we?"

Annie takes out her phone as does Ryan and the both look at their calendars.

"How about in December? Typically things settle down at year's end and we can always celebrate our Anniversary and Christmas all at once."

"What? Don't you want our own special day? I don't want to share our anniversary with Jesus's birth, Christ will always trump us."

"It's just practical and easy to remember…"

"Annie, December is also too far away. How sometime in May? It will be warmer by then."

"That's less than two months away Ryan, let's just settle into being a couple first."

"What's going on Annie? I feel like you're avoiding this, you agreed to marry me, why wait?" asked Ryan.

Annie doesn't respond right away, she wants to tell him, but she doesn't want him to worry.

"Hey, tell me what it is, we're in this together remember? All in? Or are you having second thoughts?"

"There's just so much going on with Danielle, starting a new job, and our engagement. I feel like I just got back to D.C. and hit the ground running. I just want some time to get acclimated and used to a normal life."

"People like us aren't normal Annie. Let's live large, how about we pencil in the last weekend in May?"

"How about June then?"

Ryan smiled, "June is six months earlier than December, so I'll take it."

After Ryan paid the check, Annie dropped Ryan off at San Francisco International Airport and they shared a long kiss. "I'll pick you up on Sunday night Walker."

"I'm going to miss you," said Annie.

"No, you're not, you'll be having a ball with your sister, you won't even think of me." Anne smiled. He was right, but she would still think about him and what to do if she was sicker than they all realized.

"And you? You're glad to be getting back to work aren't you?" asked Annie.

"You know me well," said Ryan.

"What are you working on?" asked Annie.

"Oh, more stuff in the aftermath of Chicago and investigation into Belenko. Did Joan fill you in when you took the job?" He asked as much out of curiosity as need.

"Not really."

"Then she will and before we have to draw lines in the sand, remember I love you and . . ."

"Yeah, you think we can handle it?"

"We can handle anything. I think the last few weeks proved that," said McQuaid.

"Let's hope that the biggest hurdles are over." Said Annie.

Annie smiled. The couple kissed and Annie watched as Ryan entered the airport and disappeared past security. She happily drove back to Union Square to wait for Danielle to arrive.


	13. Chapter 13

Annie booked in room massages for her and Danielle for mid-morning the next day. She also picked up nail polish, facial masks and more ice cream at a drug store nearby. She looked forward to spending the day at the hotel watching movies, ordering room service and having heart to hearts with Danielle.

When a knock came on the door of the suite Annie was a bit disoriented. She must have fallen asleep waiting for Danielle. It was nearly 10pm according to the clock on the wall. Annie looked through the peephole to make sure it was her sister and opened the door with an excited smile.

"Sorry, the girls chose a long movie, but I made it," said Danielle.

"It's no problem, I'm so glad you're here!" said Annie as she hugged Danielle and took her overnight bag.

"What's in that bag?" asked Annie as she led Danielle inside the suite.

"Oh, just some leftovers from dinner and cupcakes I made yesterday. What did you have for dinner? If you're hungry we can heat up the pizza."

"Ryan and I had an early dinner at a place called Foreign Cinema, it was delicious, but I do have the munchies now."

Annie set down Danielle's bag while Danielle emptied the bag of leftovers and cupcakes.

"Oh, I love that place, but we haven't been since we moved to out of the city."

"So you saw Ryan off?"

"Yeah, dropped him off, he had work to do anyway, so I think secretly he was glad to get back early."

"I bet."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"No, what's up?"

Danielle sighed. "I wasn't going to say anything, but when I was in the bedroom talking to Michael, I saw a boarding pass on his computer for a flight out of SFO tonight. He had already changed his flight even before I made a decision about spending the weekend with you."

"That's Ryan for ya, he's usually overly confident. Maybe too much for his own good," said Annie with a chuckle.

"But he would have changed his flight even before he made the offer. Why would he do that and not just say so?" Danielle didn't like that Ryan made himself out to seem magnanimous and thoughtful when it appeared that he was going to leave early anyway.

Danielle had a point, but Annie refused to believe that Ryan had anything, but good intentions when he changed his flight even prematurely. He must have had his reasons. "He's always been thoughtful Danielle, he wanted more than anything for us to reunite and spend time together, he knew how much you meant to me. And he probably did need to get back to D.C. In his world it was probably a win-win situation."

Danielle turned on the oven, "Can I ask you how you met?"

"I can't give you too many details, but we met working a mission."

"Before or after you 'died'?"

"After."

"So you've known him since you died, about 10 months then?"

"No. . .not exactly."

"How long then?"

"We met about two months ago."

Danielle stopped and looked at her incredulously. It was a look Annie was familiar with and sometimes found irritating. Danielle never threw caution to the wind and Annie always seemed to.

"Are you shitting me Annie?"

Annie shook her head slowly. She realized to an outsider it sounded rash, but the circumstances of how she and Ryan grew close and came to depend on each other were unique and if she could give Danielle all the details she might understand, but she couldn't.

"Two months Annie and you know? You know he's the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. . . well I guess I shouldn't be surprised.. . "

"What does that mean?"

"Just that you've always been that way, you act first and deal with the consequences later."

That comment stung Annie. "Are you still talking about my engagement?"

"I don't want to interfere Annie. As soon as you left home for college, you never needed permission or advice to do anything."

"That's not true Danielle, you were. . . you are what's grounded me, especially since I joined the CIA. The conversations we would have though I used metaphors helped me work through the challenges of my job, your advice and your ears helped me more than you'll ever really know."

"Well, you're all grown up and even if I think it's insane to marry someone you've only known for two months, I can't stop you."

"I wish you could get to know him Danielle, he's a good man, decent to the core and he's proven himself to me time and time again."

"Proving oneself at work and in real life is different. Marriage takes work, it's not easy, I speak from experience. How well do you really know him outside of working with him?"

"I know enough to know he will always look out for me." Danielle did find comfort in that, from what she saw of Ryan he had been looking out for her sister.

"I have no business interfering considering after this weekend we will have limited contact, but what happened between you and Auggie?"

"Auggie?"

"Yes, Auggie, your boyfriend when you died?" said Danielle as if Annie could have forgotten about the sweet man who was great with her daughter and her third grade class.

"We weren't together when I died, we had broken up."

"I still can't believe he lied to me all this time. He was good at it. I guess you spies are all the same, good at lying and deceiving."

Being with Danielle came with her resentment and anger. Annie understood where Danielle was coming from because she had beat herself up plenty already.

"Yeah, he's good at keeping secrets," said Annie remembering all the things he had kept from her like Helen, his mission with Teo, Deckard, and she wondered what else. She realized there was a lot to Auggie she didn't know and she once thought there was nothing she could keep from him, but all that changed. Was it true, people in their business couldn't be completely truthful all of the time, even with those closest and most important to them? She thought about her and Ryan, she didn't feel she was deceiving him per se, she was protecting him from needless worry. It seemed so easy for her to do. Was this what her work had done to her?

"You broke up? Why didn't you tell me?"

"A lot was going on back then. I was in the middle of a difficult mission and. . ."

"He lied to me. It doesn't matter anymore, Auggie moved on and I did too. We're still friends and we always will be."

The food was ready and the two sisters sat down at the dining table with two glasses of white wine and the leftover pizza.

"I saw you with Ryan back at the church and I know something is up."

"What do you mean?"

Annie didn't want to worry Danielle remembering that it's easier for those who love her to live in ignorance. She wanted to hide her condition, but she wanted to start their relationship off right. In the end she decided to tell Danielle about her heart condition.

"I'm going to tell you something and I don't want you to worry or change your decision about limited contact," said Annie through a mouth full of pizza.

"If that was meant to make me feel at ease, _it didn't work_."

Annie finished chewing and said, "I developed a heart condition, hazards of the job I guess, but don't worry, it's treatable and now that things have settled down for me, I'm going to get it treated."

Danielle's maternal instincts kicked in, she started to ask various questions about the name of her condition, her prognosis and treatment going forward, but Annie stopped her, "It's nothing for you to worry about, I have it all under control. Let's just enjoy our girl time, not talk about my work or my condition. I want to hear about the girls and you and Michael!"

"Annie, you promise me that if you really do need me you'll let me know. I mean if your condition worsens, I'd like to see you."

"Ryan been really great about it, about everything. He'll be there for me so you don't have to worry about me not having anyone to lean on."

"Will he be there for you?" She wondered if her sister would be a priority or if his job and his company would always come first. In the articles she read, McQuaid always referred to his company as his life's work, his baby, his pride.

"So, I get that you don't like him," sighed Annie.

"It's not that, it's what he does, well what you both do really. I read about him, his hours, his travels, his dedication to his company. Can he really be around for you and a family? I seem to recall you wanted one and you're not getting any younger Annie."

"We both give our jobs everything we've got and I know it's hard to ask you to understand what we do, but we do it out of love for this country and what it stands for. . .we'll put each other first. I learned a lot from my past mistakes and I wont' repeat them. Danielle, I'm sorry. I think this is more about what I did to you than what I'm about to do with Ryan."

"Annie, you need something to ground you, remind you that there's more to this life than sacrificing for the greater good. Don't sacrifice so much that you have nothing left for yourself when the job is done. If you're both doing the same, there isn't someone to stop each of you from giving up too much. . . "

"Thanks Danielle. Can we talk about the girls now. Tell me everything, what are they into? Are they talking about boys yet or do they still think they have the cooties?"

Danielle smiled and whipped out her iPad. "I brought pictures and videos to share."

The two sisters spent the next few hours talking and catching up. Annie loved seeing the pictures and videos and learning about how Danielle and Michael had worked through their issues and grown closer through counseling. They talked about Danielle's business, the vacation they planned to take in Europe when the girls were out of school, and Danielle's plans to build a chicken coop in the backyard. Annie told Danielle about the proposal and her plans for a small wedding and before they knew it, it was 3 a.m.

/ /

Ryan landed at Dulles where Jim picked him up. "Came back alone, did she dump your sorry ass?" asked Jim with a smirk.

Ryan threw his bag at him and said, "No, she said yes instead, so she's spoken for."

"You're kidding me. She actually said yes?" laughed Jim shaking his head. "She's crazier than I thought boss, but seriously I'm happy for you. You deserve some happiness after everything."

Jim knew Ryan's wife and the pain he went through when she died. He spent years trying to set him up, but no one seemed to keep his interest. From the time Jim met Annie in Venezuela, he knew, maybe he knew even before Ryan admitted it, but he knew Ryan had fallen for her.

"You bring what I asked you to bring?"

"Yeah, so you want to do this now?"

Ryan nodded, so Jim drove towards Caitlyn Cook's house.

Ryan hadn't been inside Caitlyn's home in awhile, but he felt he knew her well enough to know where to look for what the CIA might have missed. The CIA sweep team said they went through it and they didn't find anything. Arthur had located her private calendar. Caitlyn still used a paper one in addition to her smart phone which was synced with the company's computers. Ryan felt sure that Caitlyn had paper files somewhere and perhaps a hidden laptop. Someone as careful as she had been to cover up her tracks, had to have resorted to paper files. He had been looking into all her travels and possible overlap with Belenko and Langer to see if he could find any patterns and locations where they met. Jim wasn't sure what Ryan was looking for or why he was still digging. It seemed like everything was wrapping up, but Ryan had a feeling there was much more going on than they had uncovered and for his own peace of mind he needed to see exactly where and when Caitlyn turned against him. He decided to chalk it up as a case study he needed to pursue so that he would never be put in the same situation again. She was a huge blindspot for him and he still kicked himself every time he thought about how she betrayed him.

His phone made a chirp. A text had come through:

_Morning handsome! Had a nice night chatting with Danielle. We're going to bed now. According to flight tracker, you landed already. Just wanted to say thank you for giving us the time together. We're going to bed now. Love you!_

Ryan smiled.

He texted back:

_Glad you gabbed all night, take it easy today okay? Can't wait to pick you up. Love you too!_

Jim caught Ryan smiling as he texted and said, "It's like you're passing notes in class, lover boy!"

"Shut up Jim!"


	14. Chapter 14

_Edited: I inserted a couple of new paragraphs towards the end. They are in italics. _

When the sisters woke up the next morning it was nearly 9 a.m. or noon back East. Annie was surprised she slept in that late despite the fact they went to bed at 3 a.m. She missed a call from Ryan, but saw that he had texted a message.

_Hope you got enough ZZZs. Have a great day. _

Annie called Ryan while still in bed, but the call went straight to voicemail. He was in the middle of breaking into Caitlyn cooks apartment. She left a message, "Just woke up and it feels great. We're going to have our spa day, I'll call you later."

"Feels great to sleep in past 7 a.m. The girls are still early risers, even earlier on weekends because they get to watch television. I'll run out and get us some coffee and pastries," said Danielle yawning.

"We can just order room service."

"God no, the room service at hotels, even one rated as well as this one is usually mediocre."

"I can go out, I know where to get some good coffee. The massages aren't for another two hours right?"

"Right."

"You still like cream and a little sugar? I'll be right back then."

Annie nodded.

"Danielle?" said Annie.

"Yeah?"

"I really missed you and last night was just like old times."

"It was and we have about 24 more hours together, so let's have fun, but after breakfast."

"Yes mom," said Annie as she got up to shower.

/ /

Danielle walked outside the hotel and knew which way to go, she needed the time alone. She realized that she so easily fell into the old pattern she had with Annie. She wanted to take care of her little sister. She worried about her engagement to a man like Ryan McQuaid and now knowing she had a heart condition. . . .It was going to be difficult to have limited contact with Annie. She had to search her heart and ask herself if she could really do it.

Danielle walked briskly to a coffee roaster she liked when she lived in the city and shopped downtown. She picked up croissants and freshly made granola and Greek yogurt. While waiting for her order she picked up the day's paper and went straight to International News. The headline was about turmoil brewing at the Syrian-Turkish border and the growing numbers of young men and women joining ISIS. There was also a lot going on in the Ukraine and a small byline about a Georgian diplomat implicated in terrorist plots. She wondered if Annie would be involved in any of what was going on or probably the slew of other things going around the world that never made it into the papers. Would this be what her life would be like? Reading headlines and wondering if Annie was up to ears in any of it? Danielle's order was ready so she headed back to the hotel.

/ /

The sisters enjoyed their massages and spent the rest of the day doing each other's nails and continuing to catch up on their lives since Annie faked her death. Despite moments when Danielle asked a pointed question out of the blue, the girls fell back into the pattern of banter they had always shared.

Annie confessed that she lurked on Danielle's food blog and that she was a frequent commenter under the name Andrea Quinn. Danielle's eyes widened, "I remember that name, I've responded to a couple of your comments." Danielle was quiet as she thought about the ways Annie had tried to stay close to her. She knew that leaving her family behind was a sacrifice for her, but she still couldn't bring herself to forgive her completely or allow her back into her life fully.

"Guilty! I guess I just needed a way to connect with you," said Annie sheepishly. "And can I tell you that I'm so proud of you and what you've done with the blog and your home meal delivery service."

Danielle challenged Annie to actually try some of the recipes when she got home. "Ryan would make a good guinea pig."

/ /

The sisters ventured out for dinner and shopped in downtown San Francisco before heading back to the hotel room to catch up on the latest chick flicks. Before they knew it, they were up past midnight and both were yawning. "Better get to bed early, you have a flight first thing in the morning and I'm sure I'll have a mountain of housework waiting for me at home."

"This was really nice Danielle, thank you for making the time, I know you're still upset and I understand."

Danielle started to tear up.

"Hey, don't feel guilty, here's my number and a P.O. Box address, you have Ryan's number. This is his address, it's looking like I'll be moving in after we're married."

Danielle took the paper and nodded.

"It's best of you memorize all that and then destroy it."

The next morning the sisters parted and it was bittersweet. Annie and Danielle didn't know when they would see each other again, but somehow both were at peace knowing that the other was living and breathing.

/ /

Meanwhile back in D.C. . .

Ryan and Jim found files on Annie, Auggie, Charlie, Nathan, and James at Caitlyn's that were eye-opening. Caitlyn had also created dummy set of books for McQuaid showing that he was deep in the hole. It was his alleged motive for Chicago. He found account numbers with funds totaling more than 50 million dollars. He was in the process of accessing those accounts and getting his money back. It was money Caitlyn slowly funneled from his company over the last few years. Not only was she a traitor, she was a thief. The person he called his friend, the one who helped him plan his wife's funeral when he couldn't make any decisions. The person who used her business acumen to take his company and make it a powerhouse in the world of private military contractors had pulled the wool over his eyes.

Ryan was pissed and the deeper he dug the angrier he got. The whole debacle cost him clients and his reputation, but more than anything, he felt hurt and questioned his own judgment. It looked like Belenko first met Caitlyn nearly five years ago at a defense conference in Croatia. He cultivated a friendship with her over the next year before they met again at the same conference. The man was patient and calculating in his manipulations. He knew what buttons to push with Caitlyn. He spent years making his plans and using Caitlyn for her connections and inside information. But Ryan just couldn't understand how she could do it to him and to the company she helped him bring to where it was. Why help him build it up only to tear it down? What was her motive really?

Ryan didn't turn over the information he found at Caitlyn's to the CIA and for the time being he kept them from Arthur too. It was their loss that they missed it during their investigation. He had in his possession numerous files on a number of people involved in Belenko's plots. There were files on the targets and organizational charts on the DPD. The most information was on Annie Walker, August Anderson and both Campbells. There were also files on the men at McQuaid who worked for Belenko like Altan and Langer.

From the files Ryan information he was not cleared by the CIA to know about Annie. He spent hours on Saturday combing through the files and finally learned about the mission that resulted in her faking her death and he had to admit he was shocked that she was the one who took out Wilcox. It elevated her stature in his eyes. He couldn't believe she hunted him down as a rogue and dead agent and found evidence on how crooked he was. It was a huge boost for him when Wilcox went down. He hated that SOB Wilcox, he started his company just as Ryan's was hitting it big and he tried with very underhanded methods to poach his clients. He even set up a meeting with Ryan to talk about a possible merger with Wilcox taking over as CEO. After reading the files, Ryan felt he had a better sense of who Annie was and how her job shaped her, but he also worried for her.

Despite the fact that it was Saturday, Ryan went to Joan at Langley with files he promised to share with Langley. But he had already edited his files on Cook, Langer, Altan and a couple of other operatives who were linked to Belenko's plots.

Joan looked through the files McQuaid brought over. There were a few new nuggets of information, for example, Cook and Belenko had copies of intelligence Lena Smith had shared with the FSB and SVR of the organizational charts at Langley, maps of Langley and especially the layout of the DPD, the location of Auggie's office and the polygrapher's booths. That's how Langer knew where to go. It turned out that after Lena Smith's defection to Russia she had debriefed the SVR, but little had changed back at Langley. Joan and her task force had a lot of work ahead of them.

"So, as promised, you can speak to Langer in exchange for these files. He's still recovering from Calder's gunshots. It might be better to wait another couple of days. Calder has had little luck in breaking him, so might take another approach in the coming week," said Joan.

"I'm not as interested in Langer at this point as I am in Belenko. I need to talk to him first."

"You didn't ask him any questions back in Argentina?"

"We were busy evading the Vega Force and trying to protecting his ass for you remember? I think I'm owed the courtesy of speaking to the person who tried to pin Chicago and the motorcade bombing on me. Not to mention he killed a longtime associate and friend," said Ryan.

"That associate and friend betrayed you," responded Joan.

He gave her an annoyed look. "I'm well aware Joan, I have some questions for Belenko and I deserve some answers."

Joan thought about it.

Ryan interrupted Joan's thoughts, "Look, we're on the same side, quid pro quo?"

"All right. I can probably get you in for about ten minutes on Monday. He's been in interrogations daily since his extradition from Argentina," responded Joan.

"And, any news?" asked Ryan.

"He's been a fount of intelligence, but based on his history and our past missteps, we're second sourcing everything, that's why we need Annie so badly. We can't keep up with all the intel."

"Anything I can help with?"

"No, thanks, we're taking care of this internally, no contract opportunity here Ryan."

He smiled. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not trying to drum up business. I set out _with _Annie to nail this guy and I want to make sure we've nailed him and all his associates. I'd like to continue working together."

"I'll keep that in mind."

/ /

When Ryan picked Annie up from Dulles early Sunday evening, he hugged her extra tight for a bit longer than necessary.

"What was that for?"

"I've been missing you and you've been on my mind, I don't like us being apart."

He took her bag from her and they started to walk towards the short-term parking lot.

"Well, you're going to have to get used to it, your job takes you around the world and mine will likely too. . ."

"Sometimes I wonder. . ."

"Wonder what?"

"When is the right time to walk away, retire and travel the world to take in all the sights and culture rather than get in and out for a mission."

Annie looked at him strangely, Eyal had suggested that it was time to walk away when she found out about her heart. Danielle had also urged her to do the same as they parted.

"What brought this on?"

He missed her especially as he read about all that she had gone through in the last two years. He finally learned the story behind the scars on her chest and why the Russians were eager to get their claws into her, he also learned that she had already spent time in a Russian prison and that she had taken out Henry Wilcox. He was amazed that she was still standing, but proud to be her fiancé. Weighing heavy on his heart was what he learned about Caitlyn and Belenko and the irritation he felt with the CIA breathing down his neck.

"Can I be honest with you?"

"Always"

"I know quite a bit more about you than I did when I proposed and I know you being here, standing here with me right now is more a miracle than you agreeing to marry me."

Annie's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"In my investigation into Caitlyn and Belenko, I found some files, actually more than some that were dedicated to you."

Annie thought, he must have been busy while she was bonding with Danielle.

"But his whole plot was about revenge against Auggie and his paramilitary group's missions in Chechnya, what were they doing with files on me? I want to see them Ryan," said Annie firmly. She wasn't comfortable with Ryan knowing things about her that she didn't choose to reveal to him on her own terms.

Ryan was thinking about her request. He knew that she would ask him for access to the files, but he couldn't let Joan and the DPD know that he had more than he revealed. He wondered if it was a mistake to let her know that he had files, but he wanted to be honest with her, he remembered Arthur's advice to only lie as a last resort. He agreed with the advice, otherwise the lies become easy and harder to stop.

Annie's impatience showed, she repeated herself with a bit of sharpness and irritation in her voice, "Can I see them?"

"You can see them as my fiancé, but not as an employee of Joan's task force."

"You're asking me to keep something from my boss?"

"Well, technically you haven't started yet." They had reached his SUV and he opened the trunk and put her bags in. Then he opened the passenger side door for her.

Annie thought about it. "Fine."

Ryan drove them to the safehouse he used when he was a fugitive. The first few minutes were filled with silence as Annie tried to come to terms with what Ryan knew about her. "I came clean about having the files and learning more about you, that counts for something doesn't it?" he asked.

"I wanted to be the one to tell you when I was ready and a lot of my past, I couldn't speak about, so forgive me for feeling jostled by this."

He put his right hand on her chin while at a red light and turned her face towards him. "I understand, there's still a lot we can discover about each other as time passes and I'm looking forward to it."

Annie recognized the roads Ryan took.

"You think this place is still secure?"

"Everyone who knew about it is dead or in custody."

"Besides, it's special to me, can't get rid of it now." Said Ryan with a wink. "You know why. . ."

"Annie couldn't help bout smile."

/ /

Despite her fatigue Annie read through the files, Ryan didn't hold any of them back. It was strange to read the files the Russians had on her and when she got to the pictures of her and Simon, her heart stopped a bit. She had never laid eyes on Simon's reports on her, she put the files down before continuing.

Ryan brought over a high ball with a shot of bourbon in it. She took long swig and started reading Simon's profile of her.

The reports ended with one on Simon's betrayal of his country. The file said there were signs he wanted out long before Walker came on the scene. He had tried to resign, but was denied until the mission in Cuba was complete. He planned on leaving for years like he told her in Danielle's kitchen, but he wanted her to go with him. It was all too much.

Ryan drank his whole shot of bourbon.

"You loved him. He was more than a mission."

"You must think. . ."

"I think he had good taste."

Annie smiled. She quickly read through the rest of the files on her quest to take down Wilcox and after the gap when she was off the grid, there were files on her post Chicago and surveillance on her and Ryan and her and Auggie and her and Roger.

She yawned after the second hour.

"Thank you for showing these to me. It's time I get to bed."

_She was too tired to discuss the contents of the files with Ryan and she needed time to digest the information she learned. Losing Simon so suddenly was hard. She was willing to put her career on the line for him. Taking down Lena and meeting Zarya gave her some closure, but she never fully got over him. From time to time she longed to be close to him, to have one last hour or two to speak with him about their love affair._

_ Ryan understood Annie's need to get some rest, she made it clear she didn't want to talk about those files. She wasn't ready just yet. He had some questions, but he knew her well. It was best to give Annie some time before expecting her to talk about what was in those files. _

"Your place or mine?"

"My place, I need a good night's rest before my first day back at Langley."

"Is that code for not tonight honey?"

"No that isn't. . . and you're awfully cheeky."

"I missed you and I want you to know that those files don't change how I feel about you."

_Annie wasn't that concerned about how Ryan took in all the information about her, she felt secure in his love for her and she loved him too, but finding herself reading Simon's words and hearing his voice inside her head unnerved her. They didn't have much time to talk after everything came into the open, but one thing she read between the lines of his reports was that he found her to be a formidable adversary. However, he was always one step ahead of her, he knew all along that she was a foreign intelligence officer. He made that clear in his reports, but what Annie found puzzling was he claimed he didn't know which agency she was working for. He speculated that it could be Mossad or MI-5. Why would he do that? Was it his way of protecting her from the FSB? _

/ /

Ryan woke up early and cooked Annie eggs and toast while she showered and got dressed for her first day. He saw her put her ring in her safe as she was getting ready. "You're not going on a mission right away are you?"

"Not that I know of. . . "

"Then why did you put your ring away."

"I never know what the day will bring and it's so expensive I want to keep it safe."

"It's insured don't worry."

"I feel better keeping it here."

He kissed her, "but the world won't know that you're taken."

"Are you worried?"

"The CIA is still mostly a man's world, so yes, I'm worried," said Ryan with a smile.

"Well don't." said Annie kissing him passionately.

"Here have some grub before your big day."

"Thanks. A girl could get used to this you know. You do know that I'm a terrible cook don't you? Danielle is the cook."

Speaking of your sister, did you convince her to attend the wedding?

Annie shook her head.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's good. We'll keep it small."

Annie finished eating, "Wish me luck."

"You don't need it Walker, but I do want to say, no matter what, I love you and don't want this job to cause problems between us."

"I've been there as you know. I think I've learned from my mistakes, at least I hope so. . .but it's a two way street right?"

"Right."

"We can be mature about our work," smiled Ryan.

They kissed and Annie left to start her first day back at Langley and she vowed it would be different. She was going to end her career and service to her country there, so she planned on giving it her all and doing it all above board.


	15. Chapter 15

Note: I revised Chapter 15. These characters do not belong to me. They are all owned by CA/USA Network. Enjoy and please review.

During the familiar drive to Langley, Annie's head filled with her memories of time spent with Simon. The files mentioned details she had long forgotten and events that stood out to Simon, but not her. She remembered the time they spent in D.C. It had boggled her mind that he contacted her when in D.C. knowing that she was a spy from a rival agency. Did he really not know that she was CIA? He came on her turf, so perhaps he did think she was from another agency. She shook Simon off, and her thoughts turned to Ryan.

Annie thought about all the things Ryan found out about her and how understanding he was about the contents of those files. They contained some intimate details about her and her past relationships. Most men, even men in the business would have been bothered by what they read, but he wasn't. Annie was still getting to know him, but he seemed preoccupied, there was a weight to him that wasn't there while they were in California together.

Annie hadn't revealed very much about her past because it wasn't her way, but she was also scared to reveal everything out of fear that he would think less of her and question his feelings for someone who had done the things she had done. Knowing that she was wrong was a relief and made her love Ryan all the more. It was more than the physical attraction and sharing of stressful and tenuous circumstances that would keep them together. She appreciated that he gave her time to process what he found out. She wanted to tell him what was on her mind and knowing he didn't think less of her helped, but she wasn't ready to talk about Simon Fischer or Henry Wilcox yet.

"Okay Walker, time to get your game face on, it's your first day back. Make it good one." She said giving herself a much needed pep talk as she pulled into a parking spot.

A text message came across her phone as she reapplied her lipstick:

_"Have a great first day. Steak dinner to celebrate?"_

Annie replied: "You have a good day too and thanks for giving me space. I'll text when I leave the office."

/ /

Annie arrived early as requested by Joan and was re-issued a new ID badge and parking permits. She had to report to polygraph first thing and it took about two hours of answering questions before Joan rescued her, saying it was enough. Joan had looked in on the polygrapher's data and it all looked normal and as it should. Annie knew how to beat a polygraph. It was a waste of time for everyone. Joan did note a slight anomaly in the questions surrounding her current health status. "It wasn't enough of a red flag, but still Joan noted it in her head."

Annie smiled at Joan as she took off the blood pressure cuff and heart monitors.

"Welcome back Operative Walker, how was your trip?"

"It was good, really good."

"I'm glad you reunited with Danielle."

"Well, it's not a traditional reunion, she wants to be in limited contact, but I'll let you know if that changes."

The two women walked back to their new office area and Joan filled Annie in on the latest intelligence that had been gathered. She told Annie to spend the day catching up on what the Task Force found already and asked her to recall everything she could about her meeting with Qabanni. There were a dozen boxes of files to read on the NCTC's preliminary report on the Chicago bombing and the motorcade attack.

Annie looked at the three document boxes that Joan had put before her. "What's most pressing? The files or the Qabbani report?"

"I'll let you figure that out Annie, but the other news is Langer's recovery has hit a snag, he had to be put in a coma, we'll see how the next couple of days goes. We need to question him thoroughly about his history with Belenko and what he knows about Belenko's other plans. Naturally Calder wants to be the lead on that and you'll go with him when the time has come."

"His other plans? So there's intel that he had more planned after taking out Auggie and James? You think Langer'll talk to us?" asked Annie puzzled.

"We have reason to believe that Belenko's plans didn't end with sending Langer here to take out Auggie and James. There are pieces of evidence that just don't add up."

"All of that to get into CIA Headquarters and it wasn't his end game? What else was he hoping to accomplish?"

"That's what we've come to believe from the evidence we do have. It wasn't his original plan to kill them right away. He had something else in mind, but he's obviously denying it all. Also the files you and Auggie got off McQuaid computers point to a long history between Langer and Belenko."

"Wait Ryan knew about their history?"

"No, that's not what I meant, just that according to Langer's files found on McQuaid's Flint files, he was in the same areas as Belenko so they probably have a long history. Langer also served in Grozny shortly after Auggie's team left. We believe Belenko turned him then, that means they've known each other for nearly ten years."

"So you think he was planted at McQuaid long before Caitlyn Cook became involved?" concluded Annie.

Joan nodded. "It's looking that way, but we need your eyes on it."

Annie's brows furrowed, this went deeper than they originally thought. "Does Ryan know that?"

"I don't know, but you're not to tell him, at least not yet. He's smart and resourceful, he's going to look into it himself soon, you can bet on it. For now, until we have some solid leads, we're keeping all this under wraps."

"What about Auggie, do you think he's still in danger? How far reaching is Belenko's network?" asked Annie as an ominous feeling filled her heart. The Russians wanted him dead, if the Russians were afraid of what he knew and what he could do, they sure as hell should be scared shitless.

"I've already thought of it and he's being protected," assured Joan.

"Joan, one of Ryan's highly trained and elite operatives was assigned to protect Auggie and look what happened. It took us a whole lot of angst before the agency even acted when Belenko had Auggie."

Joan nodded. "I share your concern, but we can't let our worries or baggage affect what we need to do moving forward. We've put protections in place and that's all we can control. I know you've been through a lot and the agency has let you down in the past, I've let you down in the past, but that's not going to happen again Annie." Joan looked at Annie directly and then reached out her hand to give Annie's a squeeze. "I've got your back."

Annie nodded, said, "Thanks Joan, I appreciate you acknowledging the past." She then went to her work station and started combing the files.

/ /

Annie pushed away thoughts of how she had to keep things from Ryan. She's always had to keep things from those close to her and those close to her have kept things from her. Lies, hidden pasts, and half-truths so had been the center of conflict in so many of her relationships. She didn't want to repeat the same cycle with Ryan. But she was in work mode and pushed those thoughts away. Instead she thought back to all her exchanges with Aleksandre Belenko. He was a man who liked to philosophize and quote ancient proverbs, to some extent he had a certain integrity about what he was doing. He wasn't only after revenge, if that was the motive, he could have taken out those responsible for his brother's death in less elaborate ways, he had a beef with the United States and with the Central Intelligence Agency and killing his targets was just a means to send a message. And Russia, they were threated by Belenko. Why?

Annie got up from her desk and walked to Joan's office. Once there Joan's assistant didn't even question her. She simply said, "Go right in." Annie looked puzzled. Joan's assistant said, "Mrs. Campbell has said that you are a priority."

That was a change. Annie had direct access to Joan whenever she needed.

"Let me question Belenko," asked Annie as soon as she was inside Joan's office. "We have a rapport, in a way, I think he respects me and he feels that we're friends. I can leverage that."

Joan thought about Annie's request. She knew that Ryan McQuaid was on his way to question Belenko as they spoke. She liked that Annie wanted to delve right in, it was the Annie she knew, but she couldn't let the two lovers cross paths.

Annie saw that Joan was thinking so she presented more reasons.

"We never found out the full contents of those duffels Belenko bought from Qabbani. For the size and number of duffels I saw loaded into his SUVs, they couldn't have only contained the poison used to kill Tony Salgado and the gas Langer used on Auggie and James. There had to be more of the poisons and gas. We need to track down where they ended up Joan."

Joan was thinking. "How much money did you say Qabbani wanted for the goods?"

"Twenty million."

"That's a huge chunk of change, where did that money get wired to?"

"I don't think that money ever got wired. I think Belenko's henchmen just took the duffels after Eyal killed him. Damn it, I should have been able to follow the package back in Turkey and then Essen. He was more than one step of me and Eyal inadvertantly helped Belenko when he took out Qabbani."

"That means Belenko still has a hunk of cash at his disposal," said Joan.

"If I can track down that money and who is controlling it, I'll find out who else is involved."

Joan nodded.

As Annie started to leave Joan said, "It's not your fault Annie. You stopped things from going any further and the DCI recognizes that. It's one huge reason he gave me clearance to bring you on."

"Still Joan, I have to locate the contents of those duffels and find out Belenko's next target because I think someone else is out there who is hell bent on sticking it to us AND Russia."

"Tech just got back to me, they've looked over his SIM card you retrieved in Argentina, but he kept that one clean for the most part, it contained mostly his life as the Georgian diplomat and he's dodging questions about his Chechen past. It's only been a couple of days of questioning, I'm optimistic that we'll get to the bottom of things especially now that you're here. Besides, the threat of turning him over to the Russians has got to light a fire under his ass," said Joan.

"He's hiding something, I can feel it, this isn't over Joan."

"I know, that's what I fear too," said Joan.

"Let's look more into Britta Kaplan and her movements. The empty duffels were last seen in her office, maybe we can trace where they landed after that," said Annie.

"Kaplan, that's the woman that you and Auggie worked off book and identified as Belenko's other lover and chemist," said Joan.

Annie nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah. She used the contents to make the poison, but again there were at least three duffels that Belenko got from Qabanni in Turkey, I need to find out what happened to the rest of it," said Annie.

"And Eyal killed Qabanni in Turkey?"

"That's correct. He killed him before I could question him. He knew what was in those duffels."

"Contact your friend Eyal or better yet, ask to meet him. If you're face to face you can see if he's telling the truth. See what Mossad knows about Qabanni's transactions and what he was trafficking."

"Really? You're not going to go through Rivka?"

"Why when it will be faster if you go directly to Eyal?" smiled Joan.

"And what about Belenko, can I question him?"

"Let me see what I can do about getting you access later today or first thing tomorrow. Seems you have plenty to go on for now. You can make contact with Eyal when you leave, I don't want it traced back to the office, are we clear?"

Annie nodded.

Annie was going like working for Joan if she was going to conduct business in this manner.

"And Annie, are you feeling alright?"

With a little hesitation, she said, "Better than ever."

"Well you look a little pale, don't forget to fit in that doctor's visit."

"I won't."

Annie went back to her desk to jot down notes.

Soon after Annie sat down, Barber arrived at her desk with a plate of cronuts and coffee in hand.

"Want some?"

Annie shook her head. "I already had a healthier breakfast than that!"

"This is your new computer, complete with the fastest processor and access to all files in your clearance level. If you ever need foreign intelligence files, come see me, I'll see if it's a system we've hacked into. The system will prompt you to change passwords randomly." Eric said all that in between bites of his cronut.

"Thanks," said Annie.

"Strange here without Auggie, but having you back is great."

"Here's a CIA issued cell phone too, it's loaded with tons of apps and built-in sweep drive, no personal info, just generic photos, it can pinpoint the location of all incoming calls too. Pretty cool huh?" said Barber grabbing it out of his back pocket. "Sorry about the grease print."

Annie laughed, "That's okay Eric."

"Holler if you need anything! Sure you don't want one of these?"

"Yes."

"I'll let you get to your work then."

/ /

Meanwhile Ryan McQuaid is at a secret CIA black site visiting the same man Annie was interested in questioning.

"Ah, so you've come to see me because you want answers."

McQuaid smiled, but remained quiet at first. "Well, you're safe from the Russians here _and _getting medical care, I'd say you got more than you deserve after everything."

Belenko smiled changing the subject. He didn't like people mentioning his health. "I don't know what these strong women see in you Mr. McQuaid. There must be something. Americans, you all love a boy scout. Why is that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Caitlyn, you had no idea she was infatuated with you for years. She was so easy to manipulate from her years of pining away for you."

Ryan looked surprised. He had no idea Caitlyn still had feelings for him, he thought they resolved that and moved on many years ago.

"You see, I have a gift for spotting weakness in people and I spotted hers just like I can spot yours and that of your fiancé, by the way, when's the joyous occasion. I must send a gift."

Ryan chuckled, but on the inside he was alert. He wasn't known to be paranoid, but it sounded like Belenko was making a veiled threat. In his line of work, information was leverage and Belenko knew too much personal information about him and Annie. Ryan didn't like it, he shouldn't have proposed to Annie in front of Belenko in Argentina. Now Belenko felt he was at an advantage.

"I have no weaknesses and she certainly doesn't and she's not my fiancé." Ryan lied and he hope Belenko bought it.

"That there is your weakness, you're arrogant and you live in denial, you don't see the signs around you. Not engaged, she turned you down? I suppose given her situation, I understand, she doesn't know how long she has to live. Besides she's a woman who has been with a number of other men, I'm not sure you measure up to them."

Ryan found out just earlier from reading Belenko's interrogation and debriefs that he helped get Annie to safety when she collapsed chasing after him. He was using that point to gain himself some favor. He used his magnanimous act of saving Annie to show that he isn't all cruel and cunning. He claimed his plots were about his family and just retribution for the wrongs they endured at the hands of the Americans. Ryan learned that Annie collapsed shortly after he proposed when they were separated in the slums of Buenos Aires. It was the first Ryan heard of it. Belenko knew how to push buttons and drive wedges between people.

"You're dying, do the right thing before your time comes," said Ryan.

"Have you asked yourself if she and I are really any different?" Belenko had a way of not answering questions.

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you know she went to Russia to avenge the deaths of her colleague Jai Wilcox and her lover Simon Fischer? She killed out of a sense of righteousness and justice, that's what I did too.

"She had a mission to take out a traitor who caused a lot of damage and she didn't take innocent people with her."

"Collateral damage, it happens," responded Belenko calmly.

"What else were you and Caitlyn plotting?" Ryan decided to be direct.

"She also killed a fellow patriot in cold blood because he plotted against her friends. I am just saying good, evil, it's all relative, everyone has a point of view and a story to tell and at the end of the day you and I aren't so different. We're both men of action."

"I'm nothing like you."

"I think in time this is all over you'll agree with me, it doesn't have to be today."

Ryan realized he let the conversation get off course. "How did you get your hands on the FSB's files?"

"Connections and favors just like you would. You know how it works McQuaid."

"How much information did Caitlyn pass to you and what were your plans?"

"She gave me everything and I did the same. It was easy to give her what she wanted and needed. Love, it's an illusion to some you know. You American's have such a romantic view on love. It's easy to manipulate a woman in love. And does your Annie know that she resembles your first wife?"

The guard came in. "Mr. McQuaid, I'm afraid your time is up."

As Belenko was led out of the room, he smiled and said, "I'll be seeing you and Annie again, I'm sure of it."

Belenko's words sent chills down Ryan's back. He had to get to the bottom of what Belenko had planned and pin down the people he still had working for him. At the same time he was worried for Annie. All of Belenko's files indicated that he learned much about her, but why?

He dialed the DPD and asked to be transferred to Annie Walker's desk. Annie was in the middle of reading files on Britta Kaplan and trying to figure out her history and places she had visited, but there were few electronic records. She answered after the first ring when she saw the caller ID on her desk line.

"I'm going to have to get used to this. . . "

"What?"

"You've texted and now you're calling. . ."

"Yeah, just wanted to see how your first day is coming along and tell you I love you. Am I smothering you?"

Annie laughed. "Just not used to this. . ."

"What? Someone who caring about you and letting you know it every chance he gets?"

"Yeah, that."

"Did you see if you could get that cardiologist appointment moved up yet?"

"No, I'm swamped already."

"I can call for you, I have a lull in my day," said Ryan.

Annie began to protest, but something in a file caught her eye. Ryan spoke up and she hardly heard him, "I was going to pick up a couple of steaks and grill them at my place, so why don't you pick up what you need for the night and come over after work. And let's talk about you moving in with me. My place is closer to your office."

"Um, I need my own space. I plan on being at my place tonight, is that ok?"

"There's plenty of space at my place, we can turn one of the guest rooms into your personal office, workout space, library, closet for your fancy things, whatever. You can even have your own safe and cache of weapons, off limits to me. Come on."

"What's going on?" asked Annie looking up from her file.

"Nothing, I just want us to spend as much time together as we can given our busy schedules and you going back and forth impedes that."

"We'll talk later. And I love you too," said Annie.

Annie hung up feeling like something was going on. Maybe this was his way of reacting to reading those files. But she went back to her work. She had little time to waste now that she learned Belenko had met Simon Fischer.

/ /

Ryan wondered why Annie hid her collapse from him, but he couldn't confront her because if he did, he'd have to reveal that he questioned Belenko and he didn't want to concern her. She probably didn't want to worry him, but he was worried. He called her cardiologist to see if she could get in sooner, but there were no openings, Annie had already gotten the soonest appointment she could and it was still about a week out.


	16. Chapter 16

Note: Sometimes I find I am most prolific when busy. Or maybe it's my way to procrastinate and deny that pile of papers to check. . . Thanks for your reviews. I do like to bring people from the past together and I do like to complicate things but Annie's totally someone who is so multi-dimensional to me as well as the characters she's encountered over the seasons. She had a great capacity for love and she did get attached easily. A fault to some, but also a trait that shows openness to what life brings. . . we'll see where this goes.

/ /

Annie had been trying to digest the news she learned within the last hour. In the files Joan had left her with she found a single surveillance photo of Simon Fischer and Aleksandre Belenko. It was dated just a few days before Annie orchestrated her meeting with Simon in North Africa. She had numerous questions about why they met, who initiated the meeting, whether it was a one-time event or an ongoing series of meetings. There was nothing else in the files on the matter except it was clear that the party being watched was Simon, not Aleksandre at the time. Both MI-6 and Mossad had files on Simon. She would have to work Simon into her meeting with Eyal though her top priority was to get intel from Eyal on Qabbani.

Until the last couple of weeks, the CIA didn't even have Aleksandre Belenko on their radar. He was clean as a whistle and the intel was lacking. That should have been a red flag to begin with. Little surfaced about him other than his desire to broker peace in his region of the world. Suddenly, he was thrust into the international news media after the motorcade bombing. While there was little that the CIA had found on Aleksandre Belenko, the Georgian diplomat, there was a boat load of intel once his real name surfaced. Based on Auggie's mission debriefs after his kidnapping and the news coverage, the intel on Belenko came flowing in. They found Belenko's real name, Kokorin and his family had quite a history.

As Annie went through the files, she learned that Belenko had amassed a fortune through information and his favored tactic was strong-arming and blackmail. Most of his family was killed during the Chechen uprisings. She gathered his revenge was not only against the CIA and individuals he blamed for his brother's death, but also the Russian military for the brutal deaths of other family members. He used any method he could to get information that he then used to make money. He had friends and enemies in the FSB and Kremlin, so Annie asked herself, _who was Simon to Belenko_? Was he a friend or an enemy or someone he bought information from?

Annie was buzzed by Joan's office. "Annie, Joan would like to speak to you."

Annie had not had that much face time with Joan in a day before. . . "Okay. Be right there."

It was perfect timing. Annie had questions that she thought Joan might be able to answer.

/

Annie arrived in Joan's office.

"I got you in, a car will pick you up tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. to take you to question Belenko. Expect to be gone for about half the day."

Annie assumed he was being kept in a black site.

"Great. I'll be at my apartment tomorrow morning and I'll go meet with Eyal from there, so I'll be out of the office for a couple of days."

Joan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Would you rather I sent the car to Ryan's?"

"No, my place is fine," Annie said quickly.

Annie had to ask, she had never broached Simon with Joan after her return from Russia. She was angry and hurt even though Joan warned that the CIA would disavow her if she got caught. Joan had many connections and relationships with the Russians that she built and massaged over the years. She hoped it wasn't stepping out of lines, but she had to ask.

"Joan, did you know that Belenko met with Simon?"

"I haven't gone through those files, that's why I have you, in fact, I need another you, but no I didn't know," said Joan as she shuffled papers on her desk and threw some into a burn bag.

Joan was thinking. She too was surprised by this new tidbit. And she _did _know something. "I should have told you this sooner. . ."

Annie's brows furrowed, "Told me what?" There was an edge to her voice.

"Come let's sit down." Joan slowly walked over to her credenza and pressed the button on the electric tea kettle. The sound of the water boiling filled the room. Annie was hesitant. She could tell Joan was stalling to figure out her words and what she should say. Joan had been out of the field many years, but she was still able to do the work she was trained to do, except she was dealing with another spy who recognized when she was being managed. Annie wondered, what was she going to learn. . .

Joan opened two tea bags and placed them in the mugs. As soon as the water boiled she poured it over the bags and brought the mugs over to Annie. Joan was making Annie wait. Trying to see how eager Annie was to know what she knew and at the same time trying to figure out what she should reveal. Their relationship was important to Joan and she wanted to maintain it.

Annie and Joan both sat on the couch in Joan's office before she began, "So much happened after you returned from Russia and the whole thing with Eyal and Rivka didn't improve our strained relationship. Then you and Auggie were trying to make it, so I didn't want to saddle you and your new relationship with what I learned from my sources at the Russian Embassy. Things were better between us for a short time before they weren't again. . . "

"I understand the hard place you've been in, you have the best interests of the agency in mind."

"Yes, but also I was doing what was best for you. And now you're starting this relationship with Ryan, you're getting married, I haven't seen you happy, not in a long time. Are you sure you want to dredge up the past?"

"What? What did you learn?" Annie grew impatient. She thought for another moment, "It's not so much about the past as it is about the investigation at hand. I need to know to do my job." That was partially true, she did need to know, but if Annie were honest, her need to know for herself far outweighed her need to run down the facts on Belenko.

Joan sighed. "Annie you have a point, but I just want to caution you. Don't be saddled by the past, you and Ryan are great together. He's a good man, I'm glad you've found love again, you of all people deserve it, but take it from me, accept the good you have now and don't live could haves and should haves."

Annie thought about what Joan was saying. Did she want to know, was knowledge power or was ignorance bliss?

"Ryan is my present and my future, but I want to know, it will help me gain closure where Simon is concerned and it will help me figure out Belenko too. I understand what you are saying," said Annie with certainty.

Joan took a sip of her tea and then put down her mug. She decided it was best for her working relationship with Annie to spit it out, "My sources told me that Simon had been trying to get out even before you came into the picture, but the FSB wouldn't let him go. . ."

Annie had long wished that Simon wasn't the bad guy he had been made out to be. She knew him to be earnest and profoundly torn in the time they spent together. She sensed it, but facts pointed to him as a master spy for Russia. A tremendous relief washed over her now that she knew. . . Joan continued, "The FSB threatened his sister. He was one of their best operatives, they couldn't let him go, but they counted on him following orders blindly. Instead he began to question his allegiance."

Annie flashed back to when Simon was in her sister's kitchen. He said being a spy was all a game. He told her they didn't have as important a role to play as they were made to believe, they were chess pieces. Then she remembered what others had advised. . . getting out and knowing when to get out was "winning" the spy game.

Annie always felt guilt over falling in love with Simon and compromising herself as a CIA operative. Some of that was alleviated, but somehow it added more weight to her conscience.

Joan continued, "Simon Fischer amassed a lot of compromising information on many FSB operatives and those inside the Kremlin in his quest to get out and he knowingly sabotaged a few operations to get back at the FSB. He planned to use his store of information to gain his freedom and safety for himself and his sister. But everything he had, his so called Pandora's Box of information has never surfaced. We've had eyes on his sister and as far as we know, after you helped her leave Russia, she's been living a quiet life. She moves periodically and maintains a low profile. Nothing about her shows that she knew anything of Simon's dealings. He protected her."

"And that's the way I want to keep it. That's something I can do for Simon, make sure she stays out of the fray. So you think Belenko wanted in on the secrets Simon had amassed?" said Annie.

"If you found a link between the two, that would be my guess, but don't assume anything. Simon wanting to leave the FSB doesn't equal Simon being a good guy. He used blackmail and he has killed the best of men and women on our side," replied Joan.

It was quiet in the room for a bit as Annie sat back in the couch. She was taking it all in.

"Annie, he loved you. If you ever doubted that don't. He was planning a big move so he could get out. I'm just saying that doesn't absolve him of all the things he did."

"Yeah, and then I came along and ruined all that. I ruined his chance to make amends for what he did."

"It would have happened regardless, like us, he didn't count on Lena Smith. Annie, a lot has happened since Simon. He's in the past. It can be hard in our line of work to keep moving forward, but you've done it. Keep moving forward."

Annie got up, "Thanks Joan, and thanks for coming clean with me about Simon. I really appreciate it."

"I meant it when I said I wanted things to be different between us."

Before Annie left, Joan asked, "One more thing and this time I want an honest answer, how's your condition?"

Annie closed the door just as she opened it. She told Joan she was okay earlier, but now that Joan gave her something, she wanted to repay the honesty with honesty. She took a deep breath and then spit out the truth.

"I had a couple of episodes in the last week, a result of strenuous activity, but I have an appointment next week and I'm watching what triggers them."

Joan looked at Annie intensely. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay as long as I'm not running uphill or in hand-to-hand combat it seems. Don't worry Joan, normal everyday activities don't trigger anything. I think I'll be asking for medical leave for surgery, that's my hunch based on the doctor I saw in Israel," replied Annie.

"Annie. I will support you fully and the DCI will as well. I can't let you go into the field alone until your doctor clears you though."

"I understand, I need some time to catch up on all the files and I'll be working on Eyal anyway. It looks like he's in London, so I'll bump into him there. I think that's better than calling him, he likes to think it's kismet when our missions collide."

"Okay, I know you know how to handle him, but don't get into any trouble with Eyal. And word of advice. . . try not to keep too much from Ryan, I know I've asked you to keep what we are doing among ourselves for now, but outside of work, he needs to be your best friend and most trusted confidante. It took Arthur and me a long while to learn that. "

Annie smiled as she left. "Thanks. I guess I'll be out of the office for a couple of days."

"See you when you return," said Joan after giving Annie a hug.

/

Annie needed time to digest the new intel. She wanted to see Ryan as planned for dinner, but she also needed to regroup. Even though she'd like nothing better than to relax with him and spend the night, she knew it wasn't a good idea. The less time she spent with him the less she had to work to keep things from him. She felt there was so much she was hiding already, but justified it for the moment. As it concerned her health, she didn't know what was going on and wanted to spare Ryan worry. And as it concerned Belenko, he would find out what the CIA knew eventually. She wondered what he turned up in his own investigations.


	17. Chapter 17

Note: Thank you for continuing to read this story and for the feedback. Please leave a note letting me know what you think. . .none of these characters are mine. They all belong to CA/USA Network.

Joan stopped by Eric's workstation after meeting with Annie.

"Uh Joan, didn't expect you. . ." said Eric as he frantically started tidying up and picking up the empty soda cans and chip bags on his desk.

"Eric, I don't care about your housekeeping, just that you get the job done and if that means half a dozen diet cokes a day, then so be it. I need you to listen to me now."

Eric stopped cleaning immediately and gave Joan his full attention.

"Look into how Langer got into Langley with a stolen ID from an analyst he murdered. Go talk to security about how we can prevent stolen IDs from being used. We need to revamp our security because this sort of thing can't happen again."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Belenko's men, the FSB and God knows who else knows way too much about CIA procedures, we've been too slow to change practices and in light of all the breaches of security uncovered over the last few weeks, we need make changes ASAP. I want to you start on that. Clearly Belenko spent years planning his revenge and had amassed enough intel, we are working on extracting that information from him now, but it's clear we've been compromised. I need you to beef up security on all our internal and external servers and we need to move people around since our enemies appear to have a current map of our offices."

"I understand, Holman and I will get our whole department on it."

"Oh, when Auggie's personal laptop arrives, I need you to download all the information related to McQuaid Securities on it and transfer it all to Annie's laptop."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Eric, Joan is fine," she said as she walked away.

/ /

Auggie left, but Joan felt his life was still in danger despite Belenko being in custody, they had no idea who else he had on his payroll. Joan made sure he checked-in periodically and set up a protocol through McQuaid after Auggie left the CIA. The two men forged a friendship based on their similar backgrounds and after their stressful time in Grozny and Buenos Aires. McQuaid told Auggie he would occasionally call on Auggie and Tash if he had cyber security projects that required their expertise.

/ /

Annie drove straight to Ryan's after work. She still had yet to finish planning her interrogation of Belenko, the news about Simon had occupied her mind for the rest of the day. They were meant to have dinner even though Annie just wanted to be by herself and pack for her trip before hitting the sack.

/ /

Meanwhile, Ryan spent the day pouring over dossiers on all his Flint operatives with Jim and Arthur. He knew he was still missing something. He could only trust Jim and Arthur at the moment so the three of them had to look at service records, family histories and past travel of all his operatives. They were looking for links to Belenko and Cook. He took a much needed break.

Ryan headed home and changed out of his suit. He seasoned the rib eye steaks he picked up at his favorite butcher and put them on this expensive grill. He was replaying his meeting with Belenko and upset at himself for letting the SOB get under his skin. Even though he was behind bars, Ryan suspected there was more to his operations. He acted too smug to be a man who was set back. Ryan knew Caitlyn stole money from him to help Belenko fund his personal vendetta. He had to track down all his money. The forensic accountants were hard at work at McQuaid and they were combing all of Ryan's assets and holdings. Ryan knew it was only a matter of time before he had to reveal this information to the CIA. Arthur already advised him to loop in Joan's task force. But Ryan wanted to find out more on his own first. He wanted a shot at tracking down who had control over his money, he didn't want the CIA to take over his op.

Ryan planned on looping Annie in on his next meeting with his new personal accountants. He wasn't sure when he should tell her about his missing money. He didn't want to worry her and he thought he was on the cusp of finding out where that money was located and who was controlling it.

Ryan couldn't take any risks so he fired his previous accountants in case they were working with Caitlyn. He wanted to be transparent with Annie about his estate. Although Caitlyn had siphoned off a lot of his cash, Ryan's real estate, investments, cars, and overall stake in his company made him very wealthy. He had no heirs, just a mother who was a widow and siblings who were all very successful and well to do in their own right. If he died, his estate passed on in a trust to his family. But he was in the process of having his lawyers redo his will to include Annie. He just needed to convince her to get married soon. She seemed to want to wait, but Ryan was 100% sure that she was the one for him.

Ryan had been heartbroken since his wife's death many years ago, he kept her memory alive and felt guilty whenever he felt any attraction towards another woman, so for years he ignored his attractions. He was a man of discipline afterall. Her death was sudden, a rapidly growing cancer that ravaged her body. He had seen death, he had caused death, but to watch his young wife die was agony. He delved into work and that's what kept him busy all these years. In recent years, he dated here and there, but no one ever caught his eye, not the way Annie Walker did the minute he met her. All he knew was what little he read in a file, but he found her intriguing and trying to figure her out was a puzzle he enjoyed. Usually the more he learned about women he was interested in the less interested he became. The opposite was true for Annie. He smiled as he remembered her demeanor on the tarmac in Chicago. She was a much needed distraction since he had just found out that a trusted member of his Flint team was involved in an attack against Americans on U.S. Soil.

Ryan cut up and seasoned fingerling potatoes and put them in the oven, next he started to make a wedge salad. When he saw Annie's car approach his gate, he wiped his hands and met her at the door. He was starving since his day got crazy and he skipped lunch except for a granola bar in between meetings. The champagne he bought had chilled quickly in his Quick Chill contraction. He uncorked it and poured two glasses before heading over to his front door.

When Ryan greeted Annie, he held on to her extra long. "If I didn't have steaks on the grill, I'd take you to the bedroom right now Ms. Walker," said Ryan as he continued to kiss her while his hands removed her coat.

"Maybe later, but to set expectations. I can't spend the night, I have a flight to catch tomorrow."

Ryan paused. "Already? It was your first day!" Ryan said as he turned the steaks on the grill and checked the potatoes.

"I wouldn't have expected any different," laughed Annie. "There's never been an easing in for me, not since Day One at Langley."

"Then, that's exactly why you need to spend the night."

"I haven't packed for my trip. I need to get back home after dinner."

Ryan was surprised. He hoped they could spend more time together, but he understood her dedication to her job, he also had work to get back to.

"I'm sorry, but I am here now and we can spend some time over dinner."

Annie helped Ryan set the table and finish prepping the food.

Over dinner he noticed that she was not all there. She seemed distracted and heavy hearted as they ate. He knew because he felt the same and he noticed that she hardly ate her food.

"How long will you be gone?"

"About three days tops. Why, you'll miss me?"

"You know I will, where are you off to?" asked

Annie shook her head while smiling at him.

"You can't say," Ryan answered for her.

"You know I would if I could."

"Can I call you?"

"I'll call you. Promise."

Ryan looked worried and it showed on his face. "I know you're a big girl, but I wish you wouldn't go into the field until you get your heart checked out. Just a few days ago in SF you. . . "

"I'll be fine, this is what I do remember and I'm not going in the field exactly, just fact finding, I know the triggers. . ." assured Annie. She was trying to assure herself too.

"What exactly will you be doing then?" He was worried for her, especially given that Belenko revealed she had an episode in Argentina. . . one she didn't let him know about. He respected her need to keep it to herself. He was the one who told her that her health was her business, except now, he felt differently. But he didn't want to, he wanted to treat her the way he did before they became involved.

"Nothing dangerous. Just gathering and verifying intel. I appreciate it, but don't worry about me," Annie walked into the kitchen where he handed her a glass of champagne.

"To your health and safety." They clinked glasses and she kissed him. She knew how to keep him from worrying. Ryan went back to prepping dinner.

"So how was your first day besides being asked to travel?"

"It was good actually, I think Joan and I will have a great working relationship moving forward."

"Oh, you didn't before?"

Annie smiled. "It was rocky from the get-go and went through a lot of ups and downs, but we have an understanding now. It's refreshing to be honest with her."

"And what about you? How was your day?"

"It was informative. I'm still trying to get my house in order."

"Anything I could help you with?"

"A lot had you not quit on me," smiled Ryan.

And with that, Annie knew to stop talking about work. The couple enjoyed their dinner and debated wedding plans and where they would honeymoon. At least they agreed on that. . . somewhere along a coast, any coast. Annie still felt it was important to spend time together and get into a routine before setting a date. Too much had happened in too short a time, she knew she loved Ryan, but she wanted to cultivate a normalcy before anything else. She just wanted to live her life. Go to work, go home, read, hike, lounge, and live.

After helping Ryan clean the dinner dishes, Annie made her move to leave.

"I don't like this, I'm just going to say it. I wish you would move in, that way you'd pack and sleep here with me. We'd have the next 10 hours.

"Ryan, we've talked about it. Not until we're married. I'm tired, I just need to pack and get my head in the mission."

Ryan nodded. He didn't want to see Annie leave for her apartment, but he let her go.

"Please be careful." He kissed her forehead.

She smiled and kissed him back before walking to her car.

/ /

Annie got back home and as her bath ran she packed up her bag for her trip to London. She opened her safe to choose her identity for the trip. Then she looked at her ring from Ryan and smiled. He was her future, Simon was her past and she couldn't change what happened to him. . . to them despite learning that he wanted out of the spy game before she came along. Next, she saw the key Zarya had given to her when she met her in Russia. Was it time to give up the key or return it to the person who had given it to her? Could she let the past rest now that she learned Simon had been trying to escape his life as an FSB operative or would it always pull her away from her future? She had to move forward, she wanted to move forward.

She shook off her thoughts and got into the bath for a much needed escape.

/ /

After Annie got out of the bath, she wrapped herself in her robe and reviewed what she had learned earlier in the day about Belenko. She mentally prepped for her meeting with Belenko. She had a list of questions for him about his family, but she wasn't sure if she'd ask about Simon or not. He had always been wily and one step ahead of her and the CIA, she had to maintain the upperhand and if that meant pretending she didn't know that he knew Simon, she would keep up the charade. He obviously knew a lot more about her than she imagined based on the files Ryan shared with her. And that brought her thoughts back to Ryan. She should have told him so many things, she wanted to, but she also wanted to come to terms with everything first.

Suddenly she heard a knock on her door. She grabbed her firearm, it never too far from her side in recent months.

Through her peephole she saw Ryan and unlocked the door.

"You left your hair brush at my place."

"I have another," said Annie.

"Well, I guess I just wanted to see you one more time."

She smiled and let him in.

"I know you don't want to move in and maybe this is too much for you, but I won't see you for a few days so . . ."

"Shh," said Annie. "I'm glad you're here and that's my favorite hairbrush." She took it from him and put it inside her suitcase and zipped it up.

"I'm exhausted."

"Me too," said Ryan.

They both got ready for bed while smiling at each other while brushing teeth and flossing. Annie began giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"I don't know. . . this. . . being normal. . . seeing a part of you that makes you normal. . ."

"You didn't think I was normal?"

"You know what I mean. . .I haven't had any normal relationships, I moved around too much as a kid, maybe that messed me up."

"You're not messed up Walker, you're perfect the way you are."

The pair headed to bed in each other's arms. Ryan and Annie did nothing but sleep. It was blissful to wake up next to him.

"Do we have to get up?" asked Ryan when he heard the alarm. He hadn't slept past an alarm in weeks.

"You're the definition of workaholic!"

"I know, but you're here."

"My car is coming in an hour," said Annie as he started to kiss her. "You're all packed . . ." he said in between lifting her t-shirt and what he was doing to her breasts. . . Annie couldn't resist him or his touch. So she wrapped her legs around his waist and locked her fingers with his. This was what she wanted… to wake up next to the man she loved. They spent another fifteen minutes in bed before using all the willpower they had to get up and shower.

/ /

During the nearly two hour drive to the CIA blacksite where Belenko was being held, Annie reviewed all the intel again before she dozed off. She had a hunch. Her gut had always served her well and she hoped it was on the right track again.

As soon as she was shown to the interrogation room, she saw the man she had last seen about a week ago in Argentina. She had wanted to kill him at one point for what he did to Auggie, Charlie, Nathan and others. She wished she had before she turned around and wanted to keep him alive back in Buenos Aires. What a crazy line of work she was in.

When the guards brought him in and began to handcuff his hands to the table, Annie spoke up.

"That won't be necessary."

"Ma'am, it's our policy for all prisoners."

"I'll be fine. He's no threat to me."

"Would you see about getting us some tea?"

Belenko smiled his magnanimous politician's smile.

"Hello friend."

"We're not friends. I'm here to interrogate you."

"Like you an Olga did in Germany or will we be more civilized today?" smiled Belenko.

"You don't get to say her name or ask the questions."

"We're on U.S. soil and there won't be any torture today," retorted Annie.

"You know why I felt compelled to save you, twice?"

"I'm the one asking questions."

"Because I once ordered your death. I watched Simon Fischer for a time and that led me to watching you. . . imagine my surprise when you crossed my path again. I had heard you died, but by God's providence you're alive. That's when I knew we were destined to cross paths."

Annie needed to take the reigns. She tried a tactic she knew to give him the comfort of not being cuffed showing her power in the situation, but it obviously didn't work on him.

"Your family history lists you as the eldest of five children. You have three brothers and one sister. Are any of your siblings alive?"

Belenko didn't answer Annie's question, "You see Simon didn't want to work with me so I decided to hurt what he loved."

Annie tried her best to not appear off center.

"According to the files, one of your brothers died in the resistance against Russians and another fought in Afghanistan where he was KIA? Your sister was killed in a bombing at her high school and we all know how Mikhail died."

"Mikhail was killed by James Deckert. You were supposed to be killed in Cuba. Hector Serrano, remember him? He was on my payroll for years. I paid him to kill you. He's who brought Simon to me and when Simon refused to work with me, I asked Hector to kill you for Simon's sake. Imagine my surprise when Simon killed him instead. Maybe I should have gone after Zarya instead."

A chill went down Annie's spine. Belenko knew about Zarya. But she knew how his mind worked. It was best for Annie to remain far away from Zarya. He might be doing this to get her to reveal her location though she had no idea what beef he would have left with Simon now that he was dead. Yet she felt uneasy.

Annie had relatively indisputable verification of the deaths of Mikhail, Ana, and Vlad Kokorin, but not Nikolai Kokorin, the brother who served Russia in Afghanistan. She had uncovered that he went MIA during a tour of duty. "Did you ever see your brother Nikolai's body?"

"I've known about you for quite some time Ms. Walker and as I've observed you, I've been duly impressed. Normally I don't retract my wish for someone's death, but in your case I did."

Annie saw that she was getting nowhere with Belenko. He was trying to maintain an upperhand, trying hard to get under her skin.

"I know Lena tried to convince you to be what she was, to serve Russia inside the CIA and you refused. I admire you, your conviction, your love for your country. You see we have a lot in common and I have a proposition for you."

"Did you maintain that your brother Nikolai was KIA to friends, neighbors and even family to cover up the fact that he deserted his unit?"

Annie knew she had him. There was an ever so slight hesitation and the way he touched his pinky finger to his thumb in an attempt to stop the tremors he was starting to have gave him away. Annie while combing through what the CIA had learned about the Kokorin Family. The intel in the files along with Joan's contacts inside the Russian embassy led her to believe Belenko's brother was still alive.

"Soon, we will be working together Ms. Walker."

"I would never betray my country, you ought to know that by now."

"Oh I know. But you did fall for a foreign operative did you not? You do go against your orders when you believe them to be wrong do you not? Things are not so black and white in this world Ms. Walker. I think your experiences prove that to be so, just as mine do."

"Have you had any contact with Nikolai since his desertion?"

Annie had hunch that he had.

"Have you seen a photo of the late Mrs. Kelly McQuaid? I came across one through Caitlyn."

Annie changed her line of questioning.

"In Turkey, you met with a man named Qabbani to purchase some chemical weapons. Where is the rest of it?"

"Ah, the duffels you followed to Britta. A shame you lost them. The Israelis did me a favor with that one, I didn't end up having to spend a dime on them. They were so interested in immediate retribution for a bomb attack that they didn't realize by killing one man, they would help me wound and kill hundreds and for free. They don't know how to be patient, how to wait and plan."

"Where are the duffels?"

"What do I get in return?"

"You're not in a place to bargain. Britta believed you loved her just like Caitlyn did. I'm going to find what's in those duffels without you," said Annie as she stood up and walked to towards the door to knock on it.

"Did Mr. McQuaid wish you congratulations on my behalf?"

Annie turned around.

"Oh, he didn't mention that he came to see me yesterday?"

"He did, but I don't know what you would be congratulating us for."

"There's no need to lie among friends, I hope you find the happiness you didn't find with Simon. I'll be seeing you again shortly Ms. Walker," said Belenko as if he was dismissing her.

Annie left the room and began to feel sick. She never had quite this reaction before. He had unnerved her. He brought up Simon, she didn't need to do it. It was as if he could read her mind. Did he really order her death or was he just leveraging the information he read in an FSB file? What the hell was he up to and what did he mean when he asked her if she had seen a photo of Ryan's dead wife? And Zarya. She had to somehow many sure she was safe without contacting her.


	18. Chapter 18

Note: Thank you for reading and for the reviews. I don't know if the chemicals Britta made would come into play had there been a S6, but I'm making it happen. Clearly there was more to the duffels, there were three empty bags in her office. . . Also, something I always wondered about, wouldn't you think Belenko found out Britta had killed herself and was suspicious? I mean he went to meet Schumer after Britta died. Wouldn't he have known Annie had something to do with it? When did he realize Britta was dead? But the question that I am dying to know the most is did Eyal know Olga? He had a look for recognition when chasing her on the rooftop and she had a smile that seemed to say she was knew him too. Oh well, more unanswered questions. . .

Chapter 18

"May I see the visitor log from yesterday?" asked Annie when she left the interrogation room feeling defeated. Aleksandre Belenko had succeeded making her feel off balance.

"Yes, ma'am," said the military guard as he handed over a binder. Everything was still old-fashioned ink on paper so it could be burned. On the paper she saw very clearly Ryan's signature. Annie saw that he had been with Belenko for 10 minutes.

"Thank you. Also, may I speak to the doctor treating the prisoner?"

"I'll call her for you."

While Annie waited, she sat down and replayed everything Belenko said about her and the hit he had put out on her as retribution for Simon's refusal to work with him. She thought back to Olga story of how Belenko killed her husband because she had refused to work with him. The man, though behind bars had succeeded in rattling Annie and it didn't sit well with her he knew so much about her past _and_ present.

"Annie Walker?"

"Yes?"

"I'm Dr. Klein."

"Thanks for taking time out to see me. I have some questions about Aleksandre Belenko's prognosis."

"I know all members of the DCI's Task Force are cleared to know about his health history. What would you like to know?"

"What is his condition?"

"The patient has a degenerative disease, it is incurable, he will progressively lose fine motor skills and eventually gross motor skills in his upper body. In time, it will affect his speech and his ability to eat and drink normally."

"How long does he have to live?" She asked because he acted like a man who already had a death sentence. He didn't care about himself.

"It isn't something one dies quickly from, usually complications arise from the disease and it is more a quality of life issue, it's not fatal like ALS. Many with his rare condition need long-term care and often fall into depression. According to him, he's had the symptoms for the last year, but I haven't the time to verify with his previous doctors."

"How long until he can't move or take care of himself?"

"That's really difficult to predict. He wants to use acupuncture and other alternative therapies, we'll accommodate him as much as we can, but it's not a fast process to vet and clear people to work with a high value prisoner such as Mr. Belenko."

"How would you characterize his state of mind?"

"The man is very knowledgeable about his disease, I'd say he's resigned to it."

"Thank you for your time."

/

"Annie called Joan from the road and to report what she learned.

"What did you get out of him?"

"Not much except verification that he has a surviving brother."

"What did he say?"

"It's not so much what he said as what he didn't say, it's what my gut tells me."

"Okay, you keep following your gut, it's served you well until now."

"Jan, can you see what you can find out about Nikolai Kokorin and who he served with in Russia and his last known assignment? I have a feeling he has the missing bags and maybe the money of Belenko's we can't find. If he doesn't then I'm sure he can lead us to them. And can you see what you can dig up on Belenko's entire family and early history. He's invested a lot of energy and time into these plots and a lot of energy hiding his past. This goes deeper than just what happened to Mikhail and Auggie's team."

"I'll get on it."

"We have to put more pressure on Belenko though, I think I understand him. He really has nothing to lose."

"What do you mean?"

"His disease is not fatal, but I think he views the loss of his motor function as a death sentence. Whatever his cause or mission, he's willing to die for it because to him his life isn't worth living with the disease."

"That explains why he has bee so bold and acted so quickly."

"The doctor is not sure how much longer before his disease affects more than his hands."

"Perhaps we can leverage that," said Joan thinking aloud.

"I hope you don't plan on cutting him loose Joan, he bombed a CIA facility, planned a second attack in our backyard, and murdered Tony and Nathan! He tried to kill Auggie and James not to mention what he did to Ryan," replied Annie who tried to keep her tone in check.

"Of course he won't be given his freedom, but if we can make it seem like he can have a way out, perhaps he'll work with us. We need to find out what kind of compound Kaplan made for him, what his plans were for it and where it is. . ."

"Given any more thought to looping in Ryan? He might be able to fill-in some blanks for us."

"We will, it's just not time yet."

"What are we waiting for? When will it be time?"

"I'm watching and seeing what he uncovers first."

"You have a surveillance team on him? What? Why?" demanded Annie who was incredulous. That means she was being watched too.

"He's only recently been cleared and the DCI wants to make sure we fully vet him, I'm under orders especially since other powers still want to work with his Flint group. I shouldn't have said anything, but. . ."

"Ryan McQuaid is a decent man of integrity, it took me a while to realize that, but he's good to the core and. . ." said Annie defending the man she loved.

"I know Annie, I can't say I haven't had my biases against green badges, but I've known Ryan a long time, not to mention Arthur respects him. I know he is a good man and I can't imagine that we'd find anything questionable about him. I'll let you know as soon as you can start sharing intel with him."

"Thanks Joan."

"Be safe."

/ /

The two hour drive to Dulles gave Annie time to process her meeting with Belenko and Joan's revelation. She wanted more than anything to call Ryan, to ask him about his questioning of Belenko, to see what he knew about Belenko's history and his brother if anything at all, and simply to hear his voice, but she decided against it. She had to follow orders. Instead she turned to the files on her cover. She had to brush up to play a part and learn about the people she would encounter at the conference her old friend Eyal was on his way to attend.

Annie also used the time in the car with the CIA vetted driver to don her disguise for her trip to London. She knew she was burned and on the watch list for Russia, China, Hong Kong. She was also on Interpol's watch list, so she grew to be more cautious about her travels. She chose to be a brunette which had it's pros and cons. The worst part was when she looked in the mirror, it reminded her of her time in the dark.

/ /

**London**

Eyal spotted Annie Walker from across the room despite her wig. Their eyes met and she smiled. Her bright smile always warmed his heart. He enjoyed working with her and was glad every time they crossed paths.

Annie kept working the room. She waited for him to make his way to her instead of seeking him out herself.

Annie smiled when he approached her.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked in his deep and familiar voice.

She looked at him quizzically. "Perhaps. . .you do look familiar."

"George, George Yakos," said Eyal extending his hand.

She took it and he lifted her hand to his lips. "Ah yes, George, how could I forget, we met in Paris a couple of years ago."

"Andrea Quinn, from M.I.T."

"Forgive me this is, Katherine Brinks, a chemistry fellow from Oxford."

"How do you do?" said Annie (Andrea).

"Well, thank you, are you attending the afternoon lecture as well?"

Annie nodded. "Great. George, Andrea, I'll see you both at the afternoon lecture."

"Katherine here is on the panel afterwards," said Eyal (George).

"I must go and prepare for the onslaught of questions." Katherine Brinks smiled and walked away.

"I'll be in the front row," said Eyal to Katherine flirtatiously.

Annie looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he watched Katherine walk away. Once she was out of earshot Annie spoke, "So George, what brings you here to a biochemistry conference?"

"Oh, I highly value continuing education. I've re-enrolled in medical school."

Annie was dumbfounded and amused. She smiled widely. Eyal continued, "The University is taking all my past coursework and even letting me study and take exams when I miss class on occasions such as this. . . I'm the oldest one in the class, but loving it."

"Wow, you rediscovered your calling then?"

"I forgot how much I enjoyed medicine and I have you to thank for it in a way."

"Me?" blinked Annie.

"Come on, walk with me, have you seen the campus?"

She took his arm and it was like old times. She looked at him full of surprise. "I can't believe you're back in school!"

"Why not? Everyone needs a fall back, it's been mine for many years. I just finally did something about it. My first recollections are of wanting to save people and you reminded me of that when you came."

Annie looked at him strangely and still astonished at his pragmatism. It wasn't something she expected at all.

"Your mom and wife must be thrilled."

"Eima is absolutely thrilled and already planning my graduation party. My ex-wife?"

"You said you reconciled when I last saw you."

"Oh that. It fizzled. She said she changed, but she still couldn't handle knowing about my work."

"Why did you tell her then?"

"I have to have someone to talk to . . . and what does that say if I can't talk to my partner, the woman I love?"

"You still love her?"

"I always will, we have a son together."

All the words coming from her friend Eyal's lips struck a chord with Annie. Eyal had advised her to get out when she went to see him in Israel. She remembered him telling her that being defined by her job at the CIA was the saddest thing he had ever heard. Here he was walking his talk and perhaps it was time for her to give real thought to her plans after the CIA. What was her original passion? Somewhere along the lines she lost sight of it, the taste of adrenalin pumping and the adventures that her life as a covert operative brought her farther and farther away from her dreams.

Eyal broke her thoughts. "You look like you could use some rest Neshema," said Eyal with concern.

"Must be the jetlag. I'm fine."

"Jet lag never seemed to affect you before Neshema."

Eyal, ever intuitive when it came to Annie didn't believe her and thought she was trying to convince herself that all was well when he could clearly see her pale complexion and the bags under her eyes that she had used make-up to conceal. He thought her condition must have worsened from lack of attention to it. She hadn't take his advice to slow down. It showed.

"Annie, did you give any thought to what I said to you in Israel? I hear things, things that happen and you have done a great service for your agency and your country. Sometimes it's time to go out on a high note. Go out and have a life. When are you going to take my advice and get out?" he turned to her with all seriousness.

Annie didn't answer him right away.

"Neshema, your condition isn't going to heal itself, you need to do something about it."

"I can't yet, I just started a new role that I'm enjoying. I'll see what comes of it."

"You know you Americans always think you are the only solution to the problem. I hate to break it to you Annie, but you're not the only one who can do this job. It's just a job at the end of the day."

Annie nodded like she knew, but she was still coming to terms with the new life she was embarking on. For so many months she felt she had nothing and no one. She accepted being alone and all she could do was hold on to her life as an operative. And she held onto it with dear life. But Ryan changed everything. He had shown her that she didn't have to be alone. He supported her. He showed her that life was meant to be lived at it's fullest and shared with loved ones. He accepted her despite her tendency to retreat and her hesitation and melancholy moods.

"The other news is I'm getting married."

Eyal's eyes widened. "Annie Walker off the market? Mazel Tov! And that friend in the hospital, he's the lucky man?"

Annie nodded. "You'll meet him soon, you'll like him very much."

"I'll be the judge of that, so then when are you going to have that surgery?"

"It's in the works as soon as I finish my current project."

"I'm glad to hear it, it's your life afterall and you've got to take care of yourself especially if you're going to be someone's wife."

Annie wanted to shift the conversation.

"So I came to ask you a few questions."

Eyal smiled. "Of course you did. Is it about that South African organic chemist or Qabanni?"

Annie nodded. "Both! Is that why you're at a biochem conference?"

"Mossad wants to track down those missing duffels too."

"So you told Mossad about what went down in Turkey, our run in and my intel on the duffels."

"Trust me telling isn't how I'd call it. Remember, my colleagues left Istanbul without me and there were questions about my choices as soon as I hit holy ground. I got reamed out for killing Qabanni before getting intel out of him."

"God, I'm sorry Eyal, did you tell them I dragged you into it? That you stayed to help me?"

"There was no need to involve you."

"I followed orders. I didn't know about any duffels or their significance. They forget they wanted me to kill Qabanni," said Eyal shrugging it off. He was never one to take reprimands from his superiors that seriously.

"I tried to tell you, but you were trigger happy."

Eyal looked sheepish. "I had a mission and I'm sorry, but you weren't going to get in the way of that. It's now in hindsight that I realize I should have listened to you back there."

"Ya think?"

Eyal looked and smiled at her for her cheeky comment.

"Anything else you care to share?" asked Annie knowing that there was more. There was always more. . .

"It seems your 'guest' the Georgian diplomat has ties to Islamic extremists who are part of the growing ISIS movement."

That was the first she had heard that Belenko was tied to any extremists like ISIS. Thus far he was a man after revenge against the CIA and FSB, not someone with any ideology other than settling scores.

"And Mossad has intel to support that Belenko had chemical weapons made for ISIS?"

"That's why I'm here Neshema. . . I'm in the middle of trying to find out what Ms. Kaplan was involved in, but as you know she's dead and I tracked her contacts here. Mossad wishes your president would take a stronger hand when it comes to ISIS."

"I didn't know she was going to kill herself, if I had. . . " Annie's voice trailed off.

"She made her choices, maybe she couldn't live with them."

"So what led you here?"

"I've been tasked with finding the rest of those duffels and the exact composition of the chemicals. And I'm not alone."

"You tracked Britta Kaplan movements to here?" asked Annie. The Task Force had little to go on, Britta hadn't traveled anywhere except her home in South Africa the previous Christmas and her time there raised no red flags.

"Not exactly, how did you wind up here at this conference?" said Eyal.

"I tracked you here," said Annie.

"So you came to see me and here you are at a biochem conference?"

Annie nodded.

"It appears we are after the same thing. Isn't that our pattern Neshema?" smiled Eyal.

"Maybe so," replied Annie.

"I've been watching a chemist from Oxford who visited Britta at her lab the day before she died. He left her lab with some cases."

Annie's wheels were turning. "I only found the empty duffels in her office, they had the Georgian seal on them. . . It's not the Brinks woman?"

Eyal shook his head, "He is close to her though, fancies her and that's why I've become her new friend."

"You said you're not alone. What do you mean?"

"Qabanni's associates want the money they're owed for the goods. Belenko got out of paying because I killed the SOB Qabanni. Belenko's men commandeered the goods, so now they're after the goods or the money or both."

"So we haven't much time."

"Yeah, how about we join forces?"

"You read my mind and what would Rivka think, that woman hates me."

"She doesn't need to know."

"What about Joan?"

"I think she'd be supportive, it was her idea that I reach out to you."

"You hurt me Neshema, you mean you didn't come here to look for me on your own? So I've really lost you to this Ryan McQuaid."

Annie smiled. "You will always be my friend and I owe you, anything you need and I'll help."

"Friends don't owe each other."

"I suspect you have a plan hatched already, let's hear it."


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: This chapter refers to some events in Season 2 A Girl Like You &amp; Season 3 This is Not America. What can I say I have Eyal on my mind these days so he's currently featured in both my fanfics and in similar scenes. Hope it's not too recycled and different enough to keep your interest! THANKS for reading and reviewing!**

Ryan and Arthur were meeting at McQuaid Securities during the time Annie is in London with Eyal.

"Boss, I have the travel itineraries for Belenko and Caitlyn for the last two months. Is that far enough back?"

Ryan looked up from his strategy meeting with Arthur and starred at his assistant with a serious face.

"I'll go back farther then," said Costa before closing Ryan's office door.

As soon as Costa was out the door, Ryan continued, "Belenko went from D.C. after the motorcade bombing and killing Caitlyn to Georgia to Turkey to Germany to Grozny to Argentina before landing in a jail cell in the U.S. According to Annie he was in Germany to see a doctor named Schumer, what if he also hand delivered whatever was in those duffels?"

Arthur nodded, "No, someone like Aleksandre Belenko wouldn't do the heavy lifting himself. Plus back then he was still maintaining his image as a peace broker. The duffels Annie was led to in Istanbul and then found in Britta's office is where we need to start."

Ryan sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "The contents and the money it's all linked. The forensic accountants traced the money Caitlyn siphoned off to Kredit Krepost and that's where the trail ends. The account she opened was completely emptied just before the motorcade bombing. Belenko must have cashed out to pay for the goods from Qabanni."

"Or after Kravec was nailed by you, Belenko didn't want to be linked to him. Let me look into Kravec and his connection to Belenko. He might be someone we want to shake down some," said Arthur.

"Are there Russian contacts who will still talk to you, our relations aren't exactly favorable these days."

"I think if we have mutual interests they'll throw us a bone. It would help to loop in Joan, she could help on the Russian front."

Ryan tapped his temples with his pointer finger while his thumb rested on his strong jaw. He was going through everything that had happened since Caitlyn's betrayal. The anger and frustration he felt at himself for missing red flags and at Caitlyn's betrayal were fueling his need to find his money before it was used for another act of terror.

Arthur continued, "When Belenko killed one of theirs, one who had warned them about him, they started to look more deeply into him and didn't like what they uncovered."

"So they sent the Vega force after him. Obviously the Russians are afraid of Belenko and that's why Joan asked Annie to keep that SOB alive."

"He has intel, we need, I wonder how that is going." said Arthur.

"He probably isn't talking much. I went to see him, he's still an arrogant bastard, being behind bars doesn't seem to faze him."

"I'll see what I can find out. . .but looping Joan in would be in your best interest," said Arthur.

"You can't talk to Joan, not just yet. I haven't even shared any of this with Annie."

"She doesn't know that you're searching for $50 million stolen from your personal wealth?"

"She has to have her head in her job and I don't want to distract her. This is my problem, not hers."

"Annie doesn't care about the money or your net worth. I hope you know that and for people she loves, she'll sacrifice anything and everything for them."

"I know. Believe me, I know and it's time she stops feeling that pressure Arthur, she's done enough for the CIA and others. It's time she lives her life. I need to figure out what Belenko's plans are."

"Belenko's behind bars, what else do you think is going to happen?"

"I met with him Arthur and I don't spook easily, but I need to find that money not for me, but I think finding it will stop whatever else Belenko had planned."

Arthur's eyes narrowed. He knew his former student. Ryan's hunch wasn't something Arthur wanted to brush under the rug.

"Tell me what you know and I'll help you figure it out," said Arthur.

By the end of the meeting Ryan and Arthur had next steps in place.

/ /

Annie put her lock pick set and pepper spray in her purse. Then she strapped a knife onto her thigh. Guns were hard to come by in the U.K. so she didn't have one and it made her feel vulnerable. There was little she could do about it, so she checked herself in her hotel bathroom mirror. She applied her foundation, concealer, eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick. Then tucked some stray hairs in place. She put her badge on and headed back to the university.

Both Annie and Eyal attended the afternoon lecture and watched the crowd. They noted some men who appeared to be following the same target Eyal had been watching. Annie heard them speaking English with a Turkish accent. They agreed that Eyal who had more time to cultivate a connection with the target would keep him busy during the cocktail hour while Annie searched his office and labs. The man was interested in Katherine Brinks and stuck close to her, threatened by the handsome Greek so it would be easy for Eyal to keep him at the cocktail party.

/

Eyal was busy keeping an eye on Tim Khan and periodically flirting with Katherine Brinks. Tim Khan was an accomplished researcher in his late 30s who spent his entire adult career studying and modifying the composition of naturally occurring plant chemicals. His family emigrated to the U.K. from India and were proud of their son for being an academic as they came from a long time of professors and researchers. Brinks was a research fellow who worked in his lab, he was infatuated with her as she was one of the few eligible, relatively normal and good looking women in his department. He found the presence of the visiting fellow from Greece rather tiresome as he had been working up the courage to ask Brinks out. He planned on complimenting her on her fantastic job on the panel before finally asking her out, but the Yakos man was around at every turn and the way Katherine laughed at his jokes. . . she never laughed that way when they spoke. Then again, he only ever spoke of research with her.

Khan had to admit he never had any allure or game with the ladies and he wasn't from a wealthy family so he had nothing to offer until recently. He made good money on a side job. It started out as some consulting he did for a wealthy businessman interested in a plant chemical he had succeeded in replicating in a lab. It was lucrative. It also involved all expenses paid trips and stays at five star hotels to conferences in exotic locations his grant funding wouldn't pay for. He had visions of inviting Brinks on his travels, but his own shyness and reticence hampered those plans. Instead he focused on saving the extra cash he earned so he could buy a nice car and a flat. Ladies would like that. . . more than the cerebral researcher that he was.

Tim had tried to flirt with Britta Kaplan too, but it was always awkward. He met her through his benefactor. But now she was dead. It shook him up a bit, he had just seen her. It was all business though he asked her to coffee. She politely declined saying she was too busy with work. He didn't believe her, but politely said, next time. He didn't lose too much sleep over her death and was too daft to make the connection that it might have something to do with the work they both did for this mysterious benefactor. Britta seemed fine when he met her in Germany, but one never knew a person's private thoughts. They said she was depressed that her research was not getting along as far as she had hoped. That she had relationship problems. She never mentioned any of to him. Women usually didn't confide in him. He wished they would. He wanted someone to share life with, to confide in someone. He was lonely and lately he felt he was being watched. He wondered if his side job delivering parcels was just too good to be true, but the money he made pushed his doubts out of his mind.

/ /

Annie worked her way through the crowd at the sober cocktail party. It was typical of academics. Everyone was reserved and more interested in discussing research and the latest innovations in their field. She made eye contact with Eyal before walking towards Khan's office and lab. It wasn't difficult to break-in and search Tim Khan office. She was supposed to meet Eyal afterwards, but while she was in the office, two of the men also tailing Khan broke-in after her. Just as Annie found some receipts and documents in the shredder for what looked like rail tickets from Germany, she heard them entering. She also found an empty titanium case with a foam core. Annie snapped photos and transmitted them to Eyal and Joan before ducking inside a supply closet. She donned a white lab coat while inside. If she were found she'd play the role of a dim-witted lab assistant who got locked in while everyone was at the post-panel cocktail party.

Annie listened to the men as they ransacked the office, they sure weren't hiding their presence, they wanted to send a message to Khan. She heard them speak Turkish, "There's no money or weapons. We need to get the answers out of him, this following him around and watching him fawn over that white woman is taking too long."

"That will draw too much attention and we'll have the police after us."

"Would you rather go back and say we found nothing? It's him or us."

"We'll talk to him when he leaves the party."

"So much for an easy trip gathering intel," thought Annie. Tim is in danger and she had to prepare for things to get hairy. Annie texts Eyal that the Turks are going to come after Khan tonight and he better stay alert. She waited for the men to leave the lab before she emerged from her hiding spot. A collection of badges hanging on a hook behind the door catches her eye. It seemed Khan liked to keep the badges from all the conferences he attended. There were at least three a year all over the world. Annie noted the most recent conference locations, Moscow, Sao Paulo, and Cyprus.

/ /

Khan appeared frustrated by Katherine's apparent interest in Eyal so he decided to call it a night. It has been a long and busy day. He had been interested in Katherine Brinks for many months, but she was a beautiful and poised blond, completely out of his league and every male in the building wanted to get her in bed. He was never bold with the ladies, preferring to study and work in his lab. He opted to head home and just as he was about to leave the building a beautiful brunette approached him.

"Dr. Khan, I just wanted to say I studied your poster at the conference today and even took multiple pictures of it. It was such a novel experiment."

"Thank you," he sad sheepishly looking at her badge.

"Oh, I'm Andrea Quinn, just a grad student from M.I.T. who happened to be in London, so I decided to attend the conference for a day. I've admired your work."

"Thank you." Ugh, why couldn't he compliment her on attending the conference as a freshly minted graduate student or on her accomplishments since she was from MIT. Khan always felt flustered and reserved around women he found attractive. The only thing he knew was to talk about work, research, and grants. He didn't know how to make any other type of conversation.

"I just happened to be in London visiting friends and thought I'd learn a lot here."

"Would you like to go a pub with me?" he blurted out. "I mean only if you want to and aren't too busy with the friends you are visiting." He always did that, gave them an out, his way to soften the rejection that was sure to come.

"I'd love to pick your brain, I'd get more of an education from 10 minutes with you than an hour in a lecture!"

Tim beamed. Maybe this was his night afterall. Annie and Tim walked out of the conference together. Annie made eye contact with Eyal so he knew she was with Tim.

"I'll just get my car," said Tim. He thought she'd love to see him drive up in his convertible. He had just gotten it after returning from Essen and receiving a handsome payment for his work.

"I can walk with you." He said, "Are you sure, it's cold tonight." For once he was quick as he took off his jacket for her.

Annie smiled, "Thank you, you're such a gentleman, not much of that where I'm from."

Tim smiled. It was going well. He couldn't believe it, he finally was going to get somewhere with a beautiful woman.

"Wow, this is a great car! You must have saved every penny since you started driving!" Annie was trying to get him to open up about how he acquired the cash to buy such an expensive car.

Tim smiled. He wished for the right words and finally said, "I have a side job that brings in spending money."

"Wow, that's some side job, do you think I could do it too? I'll have a tens of thousands in student loans once I'm done with my Ph.D. I think I'll need a job too."

Eager to please and help the attractive woman, Tim said, "I could talk to them, they recently lost someone. Maybe you can fill in for her."

Annie smiled and touched his hand, "Oh that would mean the world to me."

"I am honored to say you'll be my first passenger."

"Oh really? Do you think maybe I could be the driver instead?" asked Annie flirtatiously. If they were going to be followed by Qabanni's men she wanted to be in the driver's seat.

/ /

Just as Khan opens his car door for Annie, a van screeches up and a man grabs him at gunpoint. With only pepper spray and a knife, Annie is at a clear disadvantage. She miscalculated. She thought Khan would be safe if he was with her, a witness. They must be desperate enough to risk the attention. She fights off the assailant and manages to free Khan shouting at him to, "Run!"

The man driving the van gets out of the car and chases Khan as Annie continues to battle the other man. He shoves her as she sees Eyal. Annie shouts, "Go help Khan!"

Eyal looks over at Annie struggling and for a moment he hesitates but listens to her and takes off after the Turk who has chased Khan to another building on campus. The one who had been fighting with Annie got into the running van and drove in Eyal's direction. Eyal follows the gunshots he hears. He approaches quietly, moving towards the raised voice. He finds Khan getting beaten to a pulp by the Turk who repeatedly asks, "Where is our money?"

With each blow Khan feels the sharp pain. He knew what he had been doing for his benefactor was probably not completely above board, but he never harmed anyone and never believed any harm would come to him. He just wanted to be someone women noticed. Why is this happening he thought to himself. He is reduced to tears and keeps repeating, "I don't know, I don't know," as he began to feel warm wetness down his leg. He was bleeding.

"You know something!"

Khan shook his head.

"What did you do with the packages"

"I was instructed to put them in a locker. That's all."

"Where?"

"Khan was losing consciousness, he couldn't handle the blows and blood loss."

Eyal came upon them and shot at the Turk who grabbed Khan and dragged him down the hall.

Eyal shot at them and hit the Turk.

Unsure of who to question first, he went to the Turk. "What was in the duffels? What did you sell to Belenko?"

"He didn't pay, I need to get the money back or it will be my life," said the Turk.

"I'm going to let you bleed out here if you don't tell me what Belenko bought!" shouted Eyal.

"I don't know. I don't know." Eyal knew he was telling the truth. He was a low level thug sent to find the money and Eyal was pressing on his wound. Most men would not be able to handle what Eyal was doing.

Eyal goes to Khan, "Let's get you out of here."

Khan was losing consciousness. "What did you leave Britta's office with?"

Eyal was feeling his pulse. It was weak.

"I knew it was wrong, it felt wrong, but I kept doing it."

He was asking for forgiveness. "I'm, I shouldn't have. . ." he said through labored breaths.

"You'll be fine, tell me where did you take the money?"

"What money? It wasn't money."

/ /

Annie reaches into her purse for her meds. She feels the familiar lightheadedness coming. Her arms start to tingle and then hurt. She can't, she has to stop and leans up against the building. She wants to curse the world. Why is this happening to her? Each time she wonders just before she blacks out if she is going to wake up. She had so much left she wanted to do. She saw Danielle, the girls, Ryan and the family she began imagining they would have. . .This time she grabbed her meds in time and self-administered it. Then she breathed slowly and deeply the next couple of minutes. She sat there on the sidewalk against the building for a few minutes while the medicine worked to stabilize her heart. She saw her phone and wanted to call Ryan, but there was no time. As soon as she felt able, she got up and caught up to Eyal who was trying to treat Khan who just got shot. He shakes his head indicating that Khan is not going to make it as Annie approaches them.

"The Turks beat Khan who knows nothing other than he was asked to deliver vials he picked up from Kaplan to a locker in Moscow."

"Were you able to find out how he contacts these people or how they contact him?"

He shook his head. "We have to go before the police show up."

Annie was saddened. Dead? She couldn't seem to escape the violence. She also needed to get more than Spain and a locker. That was a literal needle in a haystack.

Eyal noticed that Annie was out of breath and not steady. He grabbed Annie's arm and led her away. "My hotel is not too far from here."

"So's mine. I have to talk to Joan."

"You're coming with me," said Eyal.

"You don't need to fuss, I need to get this intel back to Langley and figure this out."

Eyal is pissed. He starts to speak in Hebrew, but stops because he doesn't want to say the things he's thinking. He bites his lip.

Annie knows he's mad at her. She could have been a huge liability tonight. She didn't think she'd be in this situation, the situation of being in a scuffle that could have ended badly. This trip was about gathering intel, not field work. _Perhaps it was time to finally come to terms and accept the limitations she had now. _

Once in his room, Eyal ordered her to sit. He went to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of Evian and opened it for her. "Drink. How long ago did you push the meds?" She felt like a kid being ordered around by her big brother.

"Less than 10 minutes ago," said Annie feeling like a school girl in trouble.

While she drank he felt her pulse of her free hand. "I need you to undress."

He was being so clinical with her. She wanted to lighten up the mood. "This isn't the way it went down between us in D.C. years ago and I'm engaged now in case you forgot," giggled Annie.

He paused remembering that night. She had saved him then and he often wondered what could happen between them, but was always afraid to find out. He valued her friendship more than the chance to take her to bed. He imagined it would be great sex and full of intensity that people in their line of work give to lovemaking as if it could be their last time. But he knew it was a non-starter. They were from competing agencies and while it wasn't frowned upon to sleep with spies from other countries, it was most definitely frowned upon to form romantic ongoing relationships.

He continued in the direction he was going in, to his suitcase and pulled out his med kit.

"Do you need to use the restroom to undress?"

"No. . .You carry a med kit around with you?" said Annie as she struggled with her zipper.

"As soon as I return I have to go to a clinic where I am shadowing an old classmate."

"Oh."

He saw that she was struggling to reach her zipper and unzipped her dress for her. She let the dress fall off her shoulders, landing around her waist.

He rubbed the stethoscope to warm it.

"You're really serious about leaving Mossad this time aren't you?"

He told her "Shhh" as he closed his eyes and placed the stethoscope to her chest to listen to her heart. What he heard scared him. It wasn't normal and it was worse than what he heard a couple of months ago. He didn't head the sound of a healthy heart pumping out it's contents.

"You can't exert yourself Neshema, your heart is weak."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't make a good partner tonight. . ."

He looked at her with compassion and guilt. Ever since Joan Campbell asked him to complete a cogent profile on Annie a couple of years ago he felt guilt. He never should have given her a stellar report allowing her to continue fieldwork. He knew then that she was torn and allowed herself to be burdened by her own empathy and compassion for others. It was both her strength and weakness and he had reprimanded her for it in the past, but he didn't write his honest evaluation in the report. It ate at him from time to time. Eyal wondered many times if she would have been pulled deeper into her relationship with Simon Fischer and shot by Lena had he written her an unfavorable report. And that file he gave her on Simon. . . He had few regrets in his life and the choices he made haunted him at times. He wondered if she would have a failing heart had he been honest in his report to Langley. She would have hated him, but she might be healthy and spared the ordeal of being shot and landing in a Russian jail. _His guilt over his role in the trajectory of her was the reason why he never hesitated to help her. _

"I'm sorry about tonight, sorry that we couldn't take any of them alive,"

"Would you forget about your job for a minute?"

"I have to get the intel we did manage to find back to the Task Force so they can look into where the vials went after Khan unloaded them. I also found some badges, he went to Moscow, Sao Paulo, and Cyprus, maybe the locations are connected somehow."

"Annie. . ."

"Don't. . . I have a doctor's appointment when I get home. I know. I know something's not right. I know my condition has worsened. I know." Said Annie as she put her dress back on her shoulders. Without hesitation, Eyal helped her with the zipper and then put his hand on her shoulder.

"Then why are you still working? Work is not as important as your life Annie. All these bad guys? They come and go. We nab one and another shows up. I work on it, you work on it, but we come and go too. Let someone else do this. Go home. Take care of your health. I want to get a wedding invitation."

"I don't know if there's going to be a wedding."

"What?"

"I can't marry him knowing. . ." Annie tried to contain her tears.

Eyal put his arm around her.

"He doesn't know how serious it is?"

She shook her head.

"I didn't want to believe my heart was getting worse. I mean I knew, but I didn't want to accept it. He's lost so much already. It's just not fair to him"

"I suspect this man loves you and he'll stand by you. You need to tell him the truth. You can't just walk out on him."

"Look where the truth got you and your wife."

"Yeah, but I have no guilt. Remember peace should not be a lie."

"Neshema, I can't keep this quiet."

"What do you mean?"

"I need to tell your agency that you are unfit for field work."

"The meds always work and it's not like I planned on tonight."

"Yeah for how long?" asked Eyal sharply.

Annie tried to argue with him, but he was a stubborn Israeli. He refused to keep it quiet about her performance in the field. "If anything happens to you, I don't want that on my conscience."

"Please Eyal. Let me do it myself."

In the end he agreed. A decision he hoped he would not come to regret again.

Eyal walked her back to her hotel.

Before they parted Annie said, "I have another favor to ask and I know I've asked. . . ."

"Anything for you," interrupted Eyal.

"Can you locate Zarya Fischer and get a message to her for me?"

Eyal remembered her. Of course he did. Annie gave her papers to Simon's sister and he was pissed off at her for doing so. She was selfless and rash at times, never putting her own interests first. He didn't realize Annie kept tabs on her.

He nodded.

"I can't contact her until I am sure Belenko can't hurt her and I don't want to know where she is, for her protection."

"How do you know he wants to hurt her?"

"My gut . . . he's filled with an inner rage and wants vengeance against so many people. I'm still trying to figure it out. People I care about have been a liability."

"Mossad has been looking into him too, should have more intel back at the office."

"Tell her to trust no one and to question all her relationships. Tell her a man who wanted to hurt Simon made a veiled threat against her. It's best if she moves often and questions all her relationships."

"I can do that."

"Thank you, thank you for everything."

They embraced and parted ways.

/ /

Annie returned to her hotel. She was exhausted, but packed up her things hastily and headed to the airport.

On the way she phoned Joan and filled her in on what she knew.

"Moscow?"

"That's right."

"I'll have to find someone else to go there, in the meantime we'll see what we can find out about Khan's trip to Moscow."

"I can brief him or her when I get home," said Annie.

"Good work Annie," said Joan.

Annie smiled. "See you soon."

Annie ended the call with Joan and after debating for a minute she called Ryan.

"Hi," said Annie.

"I've been waiting to hear from you. You doing ok?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way home."

"Are you okay?"

She didn't respond right away. "I miss you."

"Same here. Bed's not warm with you gone."

"I'll be back tomorrow. See you after work?" asked Annie.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" asked Ryan.

"Yes and No."

"How are things going for you?"

"I might need to leave town myself, but will see you before I go. You have your appointment with the cardiologist the day after tomorrow. I'll leave after that."

"You don't have to if you need to work, go ahead."

"No, it's important, I'm not going to miss it for work."

Annie felt a mix of happiness and doubt. Ryan was so supportive, but she was worried that she might have to break his heart over the condition of hers.

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you Walker."

"I love you too."


	20. Chapter 20

Note: Sorry for the delay. Busy with work and family life. Here's a longish chapter setting up Annie's next mission. I have not abandoned my other fanfics. Just want to give them time and justice they deserve. Thanks for reading. None of these characters are mine. All belong to CA/USA. Please review, I really appreciate hearing your thoughts!

"Khan's dead," reported Arthur.

"Dead?"

"Just happened a matter of hours ago, it's all over the BBC."

"Why do I feel like we're just one step behind?" asked a frustrated McQuaid. . .

He got up and looked out the window of his office.

"So let me guess, Khan wasn't in possession of the money or goods?"

"If he was, he isn't any more. . . we're still working on finding out more about Khan and what happened in London." responded Arthur.

"Do we know who else was there?"

"Judging from descriptions, Turkish thugs affiliated with Qabanni's team."

"Well is there anything else on this Khan character? Did he have any other connections?"

"Not as far as we can tell, he was clean otherwise, just used by Belenko to deliver goods undetected and to act as a go-between with Britta. Nothing in his apartment or office and lab indicated that he worked on anything of substance, but we looked at all the places he traveled to since leaving Germany."

"And?"

"Moscow was on the list."

Ryan's brows furrowed. "Moscow? It must have to do with why the Russians wanted him dead."

Arthur nodded.

"What else do we know?"

"That's it for now," said Arthur.

"Keep looking."

/ /

Annie managed to settle in and fall sleep during the flight back home to D.C. from London. No matter how many times she flew home she always enjoyed looking out the window as the plane descended. The nation's capital was gorgeous and this day was no different. Annie headed straight to the Task Force offices. Joan's Task Force worked outside the bureaucracy of the CIA and thus, the offices changed locations during her short trip abroad with efficiency.

Barber and Holman worked efficiently. Annie and Joan moved out of Langley. Annie was picked from Dulles and spirited away to a secret location where the Task Force would operate from moving forward. It was a site formerly used by the Pentagon and on load to the CIA.

"Like our new digs?" asked Eric who greeted Annie when she passed the security check-in protocol of a palm and retina scan.

"Love it!"

"How'd you come up with it so quickly?"

"Joan pulled some strings and poof! By the way, Joan called an all hands meeting in an hour. She wants to strategize on the intel you were able to get from London."

"Wow, Joan has some pull," thought Annie out loud.

"Any intelligence on ISIS is taken seriously, they've proven to be a force to reckon with. I know Joan's been on the phone with Israeli Intelligence."

"Here are the files on the Kokorin family. We're working on using an informant at the Kremlin to get us more information."

"I guess I'm in for a full day."

"Uh, I made sure we had we stocked kitchen, a real kitchen, not just a kitchenette. Check it out if you're hungry."

"Thanks Barber, I'm not hungry, I'll just get to work."

"Oh, before you leave, did you turn up anything on the lead that Khan dropped his package in Moscow the last time he was there?"

"We don't have access to their CCTVS, we're working on breaking in and seeing what we can find on his travel to Russia. Could sure use Auggie, no strike that, Natasha would be good at breaking into Russian feeds."

Annie was thinking. She didn't want to bother them. They were busy reconnecting and traveling. But Barber was right. Tash and Auggie could very well prove helpful down the line.

"Yeah, we need to find out what Belenko was planning in Moscow."

"You think it's still in play?"

"I wouldn't put it pass him," replied Annie.

"I'll get to work then," said Barber.

/ /

Annie began pouring through the files on the Kokorin family. It was very enlightening reading that gave her insight into Belenko and what drove him to spend years crafting his elaborate plans to strike everyone he blamed for his family tragedies. At the end, she almost felt sorry for him, but none of it excused his murderous actions.

Belenko had a tragic history. He once had a daughter and wife who was pregnant with their second child. A bomb leveled his home and killed his daughter. Although his wife survived she gave birth to stillborn son and killed herself shortly after that.

He was a history and philosophy teacher at the time. After he buried his wife, he disappeared from Chechnya and built a new life in Georgia with vengeance against the Russians as his motivation.

Annie put the files down. She needed to question him again. She needed to convince him to send a message to his brother, the one who was MIA since his days fighting the Afghans for the Russians. The Task Force now suspected that Belenko's money, the money he had Caitlyn clear out from Kredit Krepost was either on the way to Belenko's brother or it was already there.

/

Annie listened to her voicemails when she left Langley. There was a message from Ryan and one from Danielle. It was nice to hear her sister's voice. She wanted Annie to call after her doctor's appointment the following day. Annie texted Danielle: Thanks for remembering. I'll give you a call tomorrow. Hugs!

Next she took a deep breath and called Ryan.

"Hi! Are you back?" asked Ryan who picked up right away after seeing Annie's name light up on his phone.

"Just got back," fibbed Annie. She had been in the office filling her head with Belenko's history and speaking with analysts for the better part of the day. She finished her after-action report, briefed Joan and the rest of the Task Force and was ready for her comfy clothes and bed.

"Yeah, but I'm really tired. I'm heading home to sleep," said Annie.

"You can sleep at my place too you know," said a disappointed McQuaid.

"I'm used to my bed."

"Then, I can sleep over at your place. I'm a SEAL, trained to sleep in water, standing up, in a hole, anywhere really, but I'll sleep better next to you," said Ryan.

Annie laughed. "I'm going straight to bed and you're still at work, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Everything go all right on your trip?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm exhausted that's all."

"Your appointment is tomorrow morning."

"Tell you about it afterwards."

"I can pick you up," said Ryan wondering why the sudden change. They had planned on attending the appointment together.

"No, you don't have to, you're busy running your company."

Costa entered the office. Ryan put up his finger to indicate that he needed a minute.

"Annie, I have it on my calendar. I'll pick you up in the morning."

"That's okay. I need my car afterwards."

"Where are you off to?"

Annie was quiet. "Nevermind, I get it. All right, sleep well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night."

Ryan hung up and looked at Costa.

"What is it?"

"We located Langer's safe house."

Ryan got up and was on the move.

"The team is waiting for you."

"Make sure it isn't rigged, I know him, he's paranoid and always prepared."

/

The next morning Annie arrived the requisite 15 minutes before doctor appointments to fill out forms.

"Thanks for coming, I know you have a lot going on. . ." said Annie as she kissed Ryan who got up from his seat in the waiting room and met her at the check-in desk. He was already in the waiting room when she entered the doctor's office.

"It's your health and it's important to me." Ryan stood by Annie as she handed over her insurance card.

"Here are some forms on your medical history for you to fill out. A nurse will call you shortly," said the receptionist returning Annie's insurance card.

"You got here early," said Annie to Ryan as they sat down next to each other. It was a strange and new feeling to have someone by her for a moment like this. She had been coping on her own for the last few months.

"I couldn't wait to see you," he handed over a smoothie he had picked up on the way over.

"I figured you might not have time to eat breakfast."

Annie smiled, "Thanks!"

She took a sip and began working on her medical history.

/ /

"The plan is to take baseline tests and compare them to the ones your other doctor sent over. I ordered a series of blood tests too. If all looks good, there's no reason we can't schedule surgery," said Dr. Chang, an agency vetted doctor and former Navy man.

"When would the surgery be?" asked Annie, she was calculating in her head if she had time to bring down Belenko first.

"The test results will only take a day or two, then we would have an appointment to review them and schedule the surgery."

"What are the risks?" asked Ryan.

"You're young and otherwise healthy, of course any surgery comes with possible complications, but everything should go smoothly. I haven't lost a patient yet with this type of condition."

"How long will the recovery process take?" asked Annie.

"You'll be able to resume normal activities within a week or two, nothing strenuous. You will need to be monitored and on antibiotics for the next 4-6 months, so that means visits every week for a month and then every two weeks after that for another month. If all is well, we can move to monthly visits."

"You're confident that the surgery would fix her heart?" asked Ryan.

"Yes, there's no reason you can't go on to have a normal life after you recover," said the surgeon.

Ryan looked over at Annie and smiled.

"Does that mean having children would be a possibility?"

"Yes, but I don't recommend that until after a period of recovery. Pregnancy is taxing on a normal heart, but your heart cannot handle a pregnancy in it's current state and probably not for about a year after surgery but most of my patients with this condition are good as new afterwards and have gone on to live healthy and normal lives."

A normal life thought Annie. She wasn't sure she knew what that meant anymore.

"A year's not so bad," smiled Ryan. "We can have a long honeymoon."

"I can't speak about your particular case because we have to see how your recovery goes, but unless there are complications, there's no reason you can't conceive and carry a baby after we repair your heart unless there are other issues we aren't aware of."

"What other issues?" asked Annie.

"I'm not an OBGYN or fertility doctor,". . . Dr. Chang looked down at Annie's file to note her age. "You're still relatively young, but you are closer to 35. If you are interested in your fertility and trying to conceive, you can consider having a fertility panel done. Might not be a bad idea to identify any issues ahead of time that you could address in concert with your recovery from surgery if you want to start a family soon afterwards."

Ryan and Annie look at each other. He leaned in and said, "It's not my call. It's your body, your life, and I'll support you no matter what."

"Sure, let's do the fertility panel," said Annie.

"Keep in mind, I'm a cardiologist, I can give you the results, but I'm no expert at interpreting the numbers. You'll have to find an OB for that. There are a couple in this building I can recommend."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate the names."

"I did take a look at the records we do have and the history you filled out. You've been through quite a bit Ms. Walker," said the doctor looking up from Annie's files.

"Are you taking any medications now? That part wasn't filled out. . ."

Annie hesitated, "I carry around my nitrate medication."

"And when was the last time you used it?"

"Um, I can't quite recall," said Annie in the voice Ryan recognized as the one she used when she had a cover to maintain.

The last time he knew she used it was when they were in San Francisco and she had an attack while running up the city's steep streets to Grace Cathedral where he eventually proposed, but from Annie's reaction, he knew there had to be a more recent time.

"Um, about a week ago," said Annie.

"Are you on any other medications?" asked Dr. Chang.

"I took some Motrin for cramps this morning, but other than that, none," replied Annie.

"Why don't we get you into an exam room and have a listen to your heart?"

The doctor pointed them to a room next to his office.

"That was promising, we'll have you good as new soon," said Ryan pulling Annie close to him once the door closed behind them. He put his hand behind her head and brought her face to his. He kissed her fully and completely, Annie melted into him and kissed him back for a bit before saying, "Stop, he's going to knock soon."

"I've been wanting to do that since you walked into the office. I missed you Walker."

Annie looked down demurely, "That was nice, but I don't need hand holding for the next part, I know you have work to do."

"I'd like to stay since I will be leaving town."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm glad our ships docked for a bit at the same time."

"Guess this is going to be our lives, we better get used to it. . . Where are you going?"

"Just to check-in on some contracts in Europe, face time with the big clients."

He lied. The intel they picked up at Langer's was taking him to Syria via Turkey.

"I want to spend as much time as possible with you before I go, besides I get to watch you undress here."

"You're a bad bad boy," said Annie as she unbuttoned her shirt and struggled a bit to remove her bra. Ryan took the opportunity to kiss her and moved his hands down her sides, he said, "Cramps huh?"

Annie giggled and nodded. "Yes, cramps."

"Guess I have to wait a few days, good thing I'm going away, you're hard to resist," he said as he pulled her close. Annie winced and sucked in her breath when he pressed his hand to her back to bring her body closer to his. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, just crampy," said Annie as she tucked the gown on.

"Wait a sec," said Ryan as he turned her around and saw a big bruise and abrasion on her shoulder.

"What happened there?" demanded Ryan.

"Oh, I didn't even notice, must have been when a bag fell out of the overhead, some old lady couldn't quite lift her bag all the way," said Annie playing it off.

"That's not nothing, it happened on your mission didn't it? Don't lie, let's not lie if we don't have to," said Ryan pointedly.

"Relax, I'm fine," said Annie getting on the exam table.

"That's from a serious scuffle Annie. . . did you just lie to the doctor? God damn it, can we just stop this? I want all this secrecy and need to know bullshit to end. Can we just be honest with each other?" There were just a few times in their history where Ryan used that tone with her.

"Keep your voice down!"

His voice lowered an octave. "To hell with the agency Annie. They can't keep asking you to endanger your life. How could Joan send you into a dangerous situation? It's fucking irresponsible of you too."

Annie was nodding, "I know, you're upset, I know. But I'm fine. I came back fine."

"You didn't answer my question, you lied just now didn't you? You've taken the nitrates since San Francisco?"

Annie's silence betrayed her.

Ryan shook his head, he was pissed and started pacing the small space, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Remember what you said to me on that bridge in Argentina? The same applies to you. I don't want to lose you!"

"You didn't, maybe this isn't fair to you."

"What's not fair is for you to lie to me, to keep things about your health from me."

"Maybe it's best for us to take it slow and just see how things go before making plans for the future."

Ryan looked at her and he softened. "Come here, I love you Walker. Can't you see that? I'm not trying to walk this back. I'm here, you're not alone."

Annie nodded. Just then a knock came through. "Ready?"

Dr. Chang examined Annie. He had a serious look on his face before he spoke. "Your heart is working hard and you're at a resting state. Have you had a hard time doing regular daily activities?"

Annie shook her head. Another lie. "Depends on what you consider daily activities doctor. In my work, I sometimes need to exert myself."

"You should ask Joan for medical leave," said Ryan.

"You're an adult. I trust that you'll consider your health and know your limitations," said Dr. Chang.

"I understand."

The doctor said, "Make an appointment for three days from now before you go to the lab and have your echocardiogram and EKG. We should have all the results by then, we can make a game plan,"

Dr. Chang left the exam room.

"Are we going to talk about this?"

Annie dressed quietly ignoring Ryan's question. Ryan saw that it was hard for her to put on her shirt, so he helped her.

Annie gave him that look, the one that said, stop asking. . .

"I remember a time when you said that my condition no one's business. I remember a time when you hired me despite my condition. What's changed?" asked Annie sharply.

"Everything. I wasn't in love with you then.." He paused. "I take that back, I was in love with you then, but we weren't together, we weren't getting married."

"I have a job to do. Joan is counting on me."

"What about us? I'm counting on a life with you."

"I love you, but . . ."

He took her hand. "I love you, there's no but in I love you if you mean it."

Annie said, "I have to finish this case. I'm close I know it."

"Close to what?"

"I can't say, let's agree to have a little breather. I'll see you when you return. Have a safe trip."

"We're not done here. You need to take care of yourself."

"I'm late for work. Don't worry. I'm a big girl."

They walked out of the office together. The mood had shifted. Their reunion had turned awkward and sour. "I love you Walker, nothing's changed that. I'm sorry if you felt I was . . ."

Annie cut him off. "No apologies, you don't owe me one, I'm the one who should apologize. I never should have . . ."

"Stop. I don't know what kind of guys you're used to, but I am committed. I wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I didn't know. And I know. I know in my gut."

"I can't ask you to commit when you don't know if the goods you're committing to are damaged or not."

"We're all damaged Walker."

"I really have to go."

"Come here," he pulled her close.

"I love you and there are no buts."

"I love you too. Please be careful on your trip."

Annie nodded and got into her car and drove toward the blacksite where Belenko was being held.

"Call Joan Campbell" commanded Annie.

"Annie? Everything go okay?"

"Yeah, just need to stop exerting myself."

"What's the word on Belenko and his brother?"

"We've vetted the intel provide by Mossad and assets confirmed there is a man at the Georgian-Turkish border who fits a description of his brother and who is tied to local extremists in the area. He's going by Omar al-Shishan. They've been smuggling people across the border and into Syria for training, but it looks like things have come to a halt."

"Why hasn't he been on our radar?"

"No telling. There are hundreds of thousands of people in our database."

"What's our plan moving forward?"

"We think Belenko's money stopped getting funneled so that explains the halt."

"How are we going to get to Nikolai Kokorin or whatever name he's going by?"

"We're going to have to cut Belenko loose."

"What?"

"You need to back him into a corner. Make a deal. Limited freedom for the remainder of his days for his brother's."

"Joan! You cannot be serious."

"I know what you're going to say, but it's been approved and the DNI, it's the smart play, we need to put this guy out of commission, find Belenko's money and the chemical weapons he has stored away somewhere before we have a major disaster on our hands."

"How are we going to do this? It's insane!"

Joan explained the plan to Annie.

/ /

Ryan returned to the office to prepare for his trip. On the way he called Arthur. "I need you to find out where Annie was on her mission. I think it's related to Khan. Joan's got her working on something with Belenko."

"How?"

"A hunch."

As soon as Ryan returned to his office, Arthur entered.

"Annie was there."

"Where?" asked Ryan.

"In London with Khan. I have the footage we got off the street cams. . . ."

"Let's see it then."

"I'm not sure you want to do that."

"What are you not telling me Arthur?"

"Looks like she's fine. She walked out of it."

"She shouldn't be in the field and she sure as hell shouldn't be alone."

"She wasn't alone."

Arthur continued, "Surveillance shows that Annie left the scene with another man. He looks like someone who she's worked with in the past."

"Who?"

"A Mossad agent, Eyal Lavin. He's been useful to the agency on numerous occasions, but most importantly he's been a friend to Annie. Looks like his agency has a vested interest in Belenko too."

"This is big if that's true. The Israelis would only get involved if there is a threat against them. What else do we have? Any chatter?"

"Not so far, but I have some more people to call," said Arthur as he started to leave Ryan's office.

"I want to see those feeds."

He turned to Arthur.

"Let's see those feeds."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Ryan nodded.

"Ryan, this is the job, this is her job, it's dangerous, it's fluid, things happen, sometimes knowing too much is a detriment to not only you, but to her."

"I appreciate the advice, but maybe they missed something too."

Ryan and Arthur viewed the footage of Annie flirting with Khan, getting into a hairy situation with the Turks, and experiencing the episode. Ryan clenched his fists as he witness the blows that Annie took. He wanted to get his hands on that Turk so badly. It took every ounce of his self-discipline to keep from picking up the monitor and throwing it across the room. He continues to watch Annie get up and struggle through her episode. Arthur fast forwards the feed where Annie disappears from view and shows Annie returning into view with Eyal Lavin's arms around her. It appeared he was supporting her.

"They walk north along the street before disappearing from the camera's view."

Ryan puts his head in his hands. She was okay, he had to remember that, but a bit of jealousy crept in as he wished he were with her. He should have been the one to help her, to partner with her.

"Okay, what else do we have?"

"We're looking into Moscow and the target. I'm sure Annie and Joan are doing the same. . . We're pouring through the intel we found at Langer's too. Much of it is encrypted, so it's taking time."

Arthur left Ryan in his office. Ryan stood up and looked out the window. Annie wasn't well. It wasn't the first time he saw her have an episode when in physically demanding situations. In the past he trusted her, he never gave her a hard time or thought less of her after finding out about her condition. In fact, he admired her grit for pushing herself despite her illness. Her life, he choices, somehow he felt a bit differently now, but he didn't want to lose her or push her away. He wanted to demand that she stay at her desk, but hat wasn't her. That wasn't the woman he fell in love with, but at the same time he wanted her to be around to start a life together.


	21. Chapter 21

Note: THANKS for reviewing. I so appreciate it and it gives me a clearer picture of why I root for A &amp; R so much. I found the villains in S5 so interesting. Belenko and Kravec were way more intriguing than Henry W. Maybe b/c there wasn't much backstory. We had so much more with Henry. . . ENJOY. I also started a new story that I might post soon. It was meant to be a one shot, but I get stressed and instead of binge eating, I binge write. ;)

Annie headed out of D.C. to the black site location where Belenko was being held. She found long drives while listening to music soothing. Even though she was really good at being around people and socializing, long drives recharged her. She always welcomed the time alone with her thoughts and allowed her mind to wander. She was accustomed to being alone during her quest to take down Henry Wilcox; it was a necessity. When it was over, she couldn't bring herself to return at first, she needed the time alone to process and decompress. Soon her planned two weeks of vacation turned into three and then four. That's when she discovered that she genuinely enjoyed solitude, she probably always had enjoyed being alone. Growing up after moving around so much was lonely. Now as an adult, while alone there was no need for lies. . . but when she was finally ready to return home on her own terms, to start fresh, she discovered there was something wrong, her heart was not figuratively broken, it was literally broken.

Annie didn't want to face it, but at her cardiologist appointment, Dr. Chang confirmed what she had suspected and feared for the last couple of weeks. Her condition had indeed worsened. Her episodes were no longer few and far between, they seemed to come every couple of days. She couldn't get out of the sterile medical office and away from Ryan fast enough. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to pound on a punching bag and sprint at full speed just to prove she still could do all the things she was trained to do, all the things that gave her purpose and the adrenalin rush that gave her a natural high, she was addicted to her life as a spy. . . She wanted to do all those things despite knowing that her heart couldn't handle it anymore.

Being a spy for the CIA caused her heart problem. She remembered the irony when Eyal's friend confirmed her fears a couple of months back in Israel. Her heart betrayed her in more ways than she thought possible. Roger Bennett's words also echoed in her head. . . "spycraft-the thing that I am best at the very thing that gives me purpose-is also killing me." If she kept up with the pace her life had adopted, then yeah, maybe being a spy would end up killing her too. "Another crossroads Annie," she said to herself. "Ugh Annie! Focus, you need to work Belenko to stop ISIS leaders from getting the toxins!" She had to get out of the endless loop of feeling sorry for herself.

Annie shook off her personal problems and started reviewing all the evidence and intelligence gathered in her head. Joan had ordered her to use Belenko to offer him a deal in exchange for helping to lead the CIA to his brother and the rest of his toxins. Annie loathed what she was about to do. She didn't think he deserved a day to be free even if his days were numbered and the quality of life he was going to have was abysmal. The things he did the Auggie and Auggie's friends were unforgiveable. But it wasn't he first time she was asked to do difficult things for the agency. It she was going to have to retire from the field, she was going to go out with a big win.

/

Barber was looking through the intel on Auggie's laptop. It had taken a few days to arrive via secure routes. He did as Joan asked and downloaded everything that was from McQuaid's laptop onto Annie's and began pouring over it himself. Langer, he knew was the one who had taken Auggie from his apartment and transported him out of the country. He was also the one who had managed to break through Langley's security and tried to kill Auggie and James under all their noses. Barber wanted to do what he could to help nail the bastard.

Eric found a list of Allan Langer's aliases and cross-checked all the operatives at McQuaid's Flint division. He ran them through all their databases and facial recognition files to note all their travel plans. A couple came up who had recently traveled to regions of interest to the task force such as Turkey, Georgia, Germany, and Russia include Borz and Mikola Altan. Barber flagged them all for further review. Next he cross-referenced the list that came up against Langer's travel and past missions to see who had worked with Langer before and who had been in the same or close to the same cities. Soon Eric had a list of persons of interest and crafted a detailed history of Langer's travels based on all the facial recognition databases the agency had access to.

He took the list straight to his boss Joan Campbell.

"I had a couple of free hours and noticed that Annie was out of the office. I know this is important and I want to nail that bastard for what he did to Auggie, so I'm bringing it to you."

"Thanks Barber, this is an important lead."

"Get started on those names and prioritize who we should further investigate."

/

Ryan shook his bad mood off. There was nothing he could do about Annie at the moment. They had to come to terms with both their jobs and she was right. He had to allow her to be her, he couldn't expect her to give up the job she loved, the job that allowed them to meet. He prayed that surgery would fix her heart.

Ryan had to get ready to go to Turkey and enter into Syria to track down a contact of Belenko and Langer's. They traced him from Langer's computer. He looked through his databases for what he could find on Eyal Lavin. He wanted to know what Mossad's interest was in all of this and if he could leverage it or not. It might come in handy to have a Mossad contact. Ryan knew a few people from the IDF, the SEALS had conducted some joint military exercises with them. He would reach out to them en route and see what info they could offer on Belenko and Langer.

Arthur came back into his office.

"Ryan, we're going to have to loop Joan and the entire Joint Chiefs soon. This is clearly bigger than we imagined," said Arthur.

"There are rumblings over at Langley that Belenko may have ties with an ISIS leader. The situation in Syria is volatile and we really or you really don't know what you are heading into."

Ryan nodded. "Set up a meeting with Joan, but _after_ I return, so three days from now."

"Maybe they'll share what they have, we need it to be quid pro quo. Make sure they know that before the meeting. I don't want to waste my time."

He never had any patience when working with the CIA, even after he met Annie, who liked to do things her way versus the agency's way, he still found that the bureaucracy of the CIA aggravated him. But knowing that someone he wholly respected like Annie was so loyal to the CIA, he decided to give the agency some slack. His main motivation was looping them in would allow him to work more closely with Annie after he returned. Ryan wanted to keep an eye on her and he also

knew it was the right thing to do.

Arthur chose his words carefully, he knew this was personal for Ryan and he knew his former student wasn't one to leave justice at the hands of others. "What do you expect to happen in Syria, are you sure it's the smart play to go in? How about after we loop Joan in?"

"No, let's hold off until after I return. I'll have more to go on and the more I have the less reason they have to ice us out."

Arthur nodded. Ryan had a point. He above all others knew how the CIA operated.

/

Annie practiced her strategy as she continued to drive towards the location where Belenko was being held. She knows how he thinks. He likes to believe he's got one up on the people around him. He liked to believe they are friends and have some sort of camaraderie and rapport because they are both hunted by the Russians and they both hated the Russians. Except Belenko was wrong. She didn't necessarily hate Russians. She had loved one after all. She loved the language, the literature and history and minored in Russian and Russian Studies. The last Russian she met, Olga had been an ally. No she didn't hate Russians, sure they were sometimes enemies and sometimes allies, but the important thing was to use what Belenko felt against him. She would let him believe she too hated the Russians and wanted them to pay for how they screwed around with her life. She would work her charm to convince him to turn against his brother in exchange for his freedom. Annie swallowed. She couldn't believe she was going to put his freedom on the table, but this was the job, she had to be okay living in the grey. This could possibly be her last misson if her surgery doesn't repair her hear so she had to give it all she had. She had to stop Belenko from putting his plan of revenge in motion.

As Annie was driving the last stretch of road, she received a call from Eyal.

"Neshema!"

"What are you doing calling me?" she asked baffled that he would actually use a phone to communicate with her.

"Do I need a reason to call a friend?" Annie smiled.

"In our case, yes, we only ever meet by accident, phone calls have never been our thing."

She always managed to make him laugh.

"I wanted to check on you and I'm fine by the way in case you were wondering."

"I'm good too."

"Really? Did you see the doctor?"

"Yes, I saw a bonafide doctor with a degree who works at a hospital."

"Ouch. That hurt Neshema."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm okay."

"Really?"

Annie hesitated and swallowed.

She was trying to convince herself more than Eyal, but she said, "Yes, healthy as a horse."

"That thing you asked me to do."

"Yeah?"

"Done. All is well, I do have a message for you."

"Thank you, I mean that. What's the message?"

"She'd like to see you in person."

Annie's brows furrowed. Why would Zarya Fischer need to see her?

"Did she say what it was about?"

"No, she didn't, but I said I'd pass the message and I did tell her that it would be difficult. I offered to be your cut-out, but she didn't bring it up again during our time together."

"Time together?" queried Annie.

"She invited me to have tea and one thing led to another."

Annie's eyes widened. On the other end Eyal knew she was getting upset.

"What the hell, I wanted you to give her a message not seduce her," screamed Annie into the speaker.

"I didn't do the seducing. I'm always a gentleman, you can ask her yourself when you see her."

"I asked you for a favor, ugh, I don't have time for this Eyal."

"I did what you asked and you see now I'm invested in keeping her safe too. Win win as you Americans like to say."

"I appreciate it Eyal. I can't get to see her for a bit. Can you tell her that?"

"Anything for you Neshema."

"Bye," said Annie.

"Wait, I do have business. Mossad business"

Eyal proceeded to tell her that Rivka and Joan had spoken. He filled her in on the intelligence Mossad had gathered.

Annie let out a deep breath, "That does explains Khan's trip to Moscow."

"Comes in handy to have a friend at Mossad, didn't know you were able to tap into their CCTVs."

"We traced Khan to the conference in Moscow. He was seen leaving a suitcase in a train station near the hotel where Khan stayed for his conference."

"The suitcase was picked up already and we couldn't get a good look at the person who did it. He was clearly more trained than Khan and avoided the cameras."

"Do you have verification of what's in the suitcase?"

"No, but we believe that it's the toxin Britta made."

"Who's the target? Does Mossad know?" asked Annie?

"Not just one person, an entity. The Kremlin and offices of the SVR and FSB."

"He blames the Russians for killing his family," interjected Annie. "And he blamed Auggie's Special Forces team and the U.S. for not intervening more,"

"I'm sorry Neshema, I should have listened to you back in Turkey. I know there were more duffels, we're looking into it now."

Annie sighed. "You've never listened to me so why start? Life wouldn't be interesting if you had."

Eyal chuckled.

"We'll figure it out."

"I'm on my way to see Belenko now."

"I'll be in touch. Be careful."

Annie hung up feeling like a ton of bricks had been dropped on her.


	22. Chapter 22

Ryan and his team arrived at Langer's residence in full tactical gear. They discovered the door was rigged to an explosive device. Ryan quickly debated the best course of action with Jim and Arthur. In the end, he concluded that he had no choice but to involve the CIA. In doing so, he was giving up his control over what was inside and opening up his findings to Joan and the CIA, but he couldn't risk the bomb hurting innocent civilians. The best way to play it was to hope Joan would appreciate him looping her in before the FBI or local police.

On her part Joan knew exactly what Ryan was hoping. He was backed into a corner and didn't have the authority to shut down an entire neighborhood in order to neutralize Langer's home. It was no fun to work with Vincent Rossabi who had legal authority to operate since the CIA was technically not allowed to operate on U.S. soil (not that it stopped them in the past), but if Joan had to pick, she would rather share her intel with Ryan McQuaid and McQuaid Securities than the FBI. After all, Ryan had intimate knowledge about Langer's part in the Chicago bombings and Belenko's nefarious plans.

Joan made sure her team entered Langer's first after the bomb squad neutralized all the explosives found. When they finished collecting evidence, they went back to the office and began deciphering what was found in Langer's safehouse. They concluded that Belenko had planned to get the toxin he had made into the ventilation system at the Pentagon. Langer had files on different employees he could target and use to enter the Pentagon as he did at Langley as well as blueprints from the Pentagon with Russian writing on it. The prints were from the FSB, Belenko obtained the intel from the Russians when he was still on good terms with them.

"We're all going to have to change how we've done things and be more vigilant," said Arthur.

"Are we sure we have all the toxin?" asked Joan.

"We can never be sure, but this amount looks like it would fill one of the duffle bags Annie said she saw with Belenko and his men in Turkey. There were three in all," said Arthur.

"What if there's more of this stuff floating out there and what else was this guy planning on doing?" asked Ryan.

"I need to get back to my office with this intel," said Joan picking up her purse and walking in the direction of her car. Joan knew what Mossad had shared. Belenko planned on striking the Pentagon and the Kremlin simultaneously. It scared Joan that he got far enough to make it a reality.

"What are the next steps?"

"None for you right now," said Joan.

"What the hell? I shared this with you Joan, I need some quid pro quo," demanded Ryan. "What do you know about Moscow?"

Joan was surprised that Ryan knew about Moscow. "You had no choice, but to come to me, now it is time you sit this out and focus your efforts elsewhere, let the CIA take over," said Joan.

"I can't let this go, not after what he did to Caitlyn and to me and to my company," said Ryan.

"Caitlyn made her choices, if she were alive, she'd be charged with treason and acts of terror," said Joan.

"We haven't had the most upfront working relationship, but I want in on this."

"I'll call you later," said Joan as she walked out.

/ /

Joan called Annie and filled her in on what they found in Langer's apartment.

"Ryan has been keeping his own investigation from us. Did you know about this?"

"No, we are keeping our work separate," replied Annie with brows furrowed.

"Ask Belenko about the Pentagon and Moscow. We know those were the targets, but there was only one duffel at Langer's, we assume one is in Moscow, still unaccounted for, but you said there were three duffels, that leaves us in a bind."

"My guess is money."

"What if there was another target?"

"See what you can get out of him, offer him our deal as planned."

/

"Ms. Walker, twice in a week, I'm flattered," said Belenko. "I would get up to greet you, but . . . " he motioned to his hands cuffed to the table before him.

"Don't be flattered and don't pretend to be a gentleman," said Annie as she sat down.

"You found something and you have questions? Did you ask your fiancé about his late wife? Caitlyn told me he put her on a pedestal. No woman ever lived up to her. Do you think you can?"

Annie ignored Belenko's mind games.

"We found Langer's safehouse and the toxin you planned on using here in D.C. I want to know where the remaining duffels are," said Annie while looking straight into Belenko's eyes.

"Who says it went anywhere?"

Now Annie was getting somewhere.

"You want my help?" chuckled Belenko.

"I want to save lives, isn't it time this stops Alek? Is this what your family would have wanted?"

She wanted to make a connection with him.

Aleksandre Belenko hadn't thought about his family in a long time. He started out doing all this for them, at least that is what he told himself. But he became consumed by his anger and need for vengeance that during all the ensuing years his happy memories faded as he was filled with a singular goal: To abate the pain by inflicting the same pain on those responsible for his losses. He had forgotten what it felt like to love versus use love to manipulate others.

Annie passed him a picture of a small child with curls, a bright smile and dimples. "Do you remember her?"

Belenko appeared stunned for a moment. He hadn't seen that photo in years and years. A lifetime ago it seemed.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded. Annie could tell she had rattled him.

"Your mother-in-law, she fled your homeland and was a refugee. . . she now lives in. . . "

Belenko knew all that, but he never reached out. He was ashamed that he could not protect them. She begged them to leave with her and his wife's family at the start of the conflict. He refused to leave his home. His house was bombed shortly afterwards taking his young daughter's life.

"I don't think this is you Alek. It's time to stop this murderous cycle. Now tell me what else you had planned for the rest of the toxin and where you stashed the you amassed."

Belenko remained silent as he looked at the picture of the little girl.

"You want my help?"

Annie said, "I want to prevent more deaths, revenge isn't the answer, it won't bring them back, Alek, I've lost people too and I've brought justice to those responsible, but the void it's still there. . .I've come to accept it as part of mourning those I've lost, it means they meant something to me. That emptiness and void you feel over their loss, it serves as a reminder that they touched your life. You have a choice now. Use that hurt and pain and turn it into something positive."

"I would rather have grown old with my wife and watched my children grow up."

"I once knew that same consuming pain and it led me down a path that has taken me a long time to return from" said Annie.

"Are you sure you've returned?" asked Belenko.

"The more time has passed, the more light has come back into my life. The people I've lost aren't forgotten, but I've accepted that they are gone and nothing will change that."

"Accept it? I can't, these savages brutally killed innocent children and caused unimaginable pain. I vowed to do the same a hundred times over."

"The savages you speak of have families too, families who are missing them. None of this will bring your daughter, wife, or brothers back."

Belenko's eyes were on the photo. He hadn't seen that picture in many years, he almost forgot her in his effort to erase the anguish he felt. Her smile. He took that photo on a sunny winter day, her cheeks were rosy and the wind had blown her hair so that a wisp was near her mouth. He could almost hear her giggles. Annie sensed Belenko was moved by the photo, he had compassion and feelings after all. She had accomplished what she set out to do.

"You can keep the photo," said Annie.

"Thank you," said Belenko. Annie heard sincerity in his voice.

"What do you want in return?"

"We know you were financing your brother, now linked to radicals in Syria. I want to know what you had planned for the toxin in addition to Moscow and the Pentagon and we want intel on your brother's operations."

Belenko was a smart man and a master of strategy.

"I have terms."

"You're hardly in a position to dictate terms and I don't have the power to grant you anything. I know you know that. However, I can take your requests to those who have the power."

Belenko nodded.

"My brother is expecting to hear from me."

"He has to know you've been captured."

"I don't think so. He is very isolated and stays largely unplugged. We have never used technology to stay in touch. I have prearranged a drop that is happening in three days and with travel time, that gives you just about two days to meet my terms."

"What are your terms?"

"My brother will make contact and meet with me. That was our plan. I need a plane, fueled and stocked with my medicines. I need my money you've frozen in Euros and USD and I want you to come with me."

"Me?" asked a surprised Annie.

"My safe passage through this for your safe return. As long as you are with me, the U.S. won't drone my location. Is that a correct assumption? And I rather enjoy your company Ms. Walker."

"I will bring your requests to my bosses."


	23. Chapter 23

Note: Chapter has been revised a bit, I reread it and wasn't happy with the level of detail, so I made some additions. I was rushed and hiding while writing with kids and hubs around. Really I'm procrastinating since I'm back at work today, but my house is quiet since members are off at school and work. Finally, back to routines and quiet mornings. One resolution is to find time to write something everyday. Happy New Year CA fans! And thanks for reviewing. Detours will wrap-up soon. I think. . .

So much seemed to have happened since the morning when he met Annie at her doctor's appointment, but Ryan was finally set to head to Syria after some minor setbacks. He had to get his head in the mission. The country had gone to shit and making plans for getting in and out undetected proved to be a challenge. Arthur tried to convince him that holding back on the intel where Joan was concerned was a terrible idea, but Ryan was as ever stubborn and distrustful of the CIA. He didn't want them to take over and fumble things, he also didn't want Joan to shut him out as she had done after he had no choice, but to hand over control of Langer's apartment. He held on to his intel about the possibility that Belenko's third duffle passed through Turkish-Syrian border. He had found out the same intel the CIA and Mossad had through his contacts.

Ryan now knew Belenko's real name and that he had a brother who was missing in action and presumed alive now in Syria. There was only speculation as to what the brother was doing in Syria and how he got there from his days serving in the Russian Army in Afghanistan. The other thing that was driving Ryan was his own forensic accountants uncovered that his embezzled funds were wired to a bank in Istanbul at just the same time that Belenko was there. Caitlyn was the courier for the money and it killed him that he made her job easy by sending her all over the Middle East as a representative for McQuaid Securities.

"Arthur, that bastard and Caitlyn used my money to finance his delusions of revenge and God knows what other terrorist acts are in the works. I have a responsibility to stop this once and for all," said Ryan as he opened up a hidden compartment behind his office wall unit. Inside were several weapons and tactical gear.

"You've only just recovered from gunshots to your chest, there are others who can fight this fight for you and no one believes you had anything to do with any of this anymore, you have nothing to prove Ryan," responded Arthur, the voice of reason.

"Well, it doesn't feel that way, McQuaid Securities still haven't regained enough clients to be competitive and it's really not about that. I have a responsibility, it's my money they stole and used. I can't let anyone else get hurt."

"I can see that I'm not going to be able to stop you," sighed Arthur.

"If the CIA gets involved, this will turn into a big thing, with a big footprint and we'll be delayed by the politicking, my goal is to end this swiftly," said Ryan as he stuffed his bag with gear.

Arthur sighed. He could see there was no way he was going to convince Ryan to let the CIA and U.S. Military take-over. Ryan was a Navy S.E.A.L after all, he was stubborn and determined and he wasn't going to give up.

"There are two ways to do something," started Arthur.

"The right way and again," finished Ryan. It was a S.E.A.L motto and although Arthur wasn't a S.E.A.L, he had served in the Navy.

"I'll make a call. The station chief in Turkey is a friend, he can give you some guidance on how to navigate through Syria."

"I appreciate that Arthur, while I'm gone, I need you to go to ground and hard."

"Say no more, I've got a dozen meetings set up over the next couple of days, we'll get your clients back and then some," said Arthur with a smile.

Ryan needed the positivity and appreciated it from his old mentor. The men shook hands.

"Good work on gaining Belenko's trust and getting him to agree to turn on his brother Annie," said Joan as Annie walked into the Task Force offices later that day. It had been a long day and she was tired from the round-trip drive to and from Belenko's black site.

"It will take a couple of days to negotiate the temporary release of Belenko and change his status to asset, but we can use the time. We are working on your travel documents and it will give you and your partner time to study your covers."

Annie sensed something else was going on and raised an eyebrow when she heard the words: partner and covers.

"What'd I miss Joan?"

Joan smiled, "You're learning. . . Rivka and the rest of Mossad want in on this operation since they provided some key intel, I'm afraid I can't fend them off and all things considered it's not a bad idea to have their support and cooperation. They are better versed on the situation in Syria and have a stake in this too, plus you can keep an eye on Mossad's interests. They have some intel on the third duffel that they are holding onto and I actually don't think it is a bad idea for you to have back-up."

"Joan, I'm fine and I don't need a partner in this."

"It pays to be cautious and you said yourself earlier that doctor directed you not to exert yourself."

After some thought, Annie knew Joan was right. In her experience, some missions were boring and full of sitting and waiting, but many of her past missions were far more exciting than that. She needed to be smart and plan for every scenario.

"Fine, the only person I feel comfortable working with and the only one who knows the ins and outs of this case is Eyal Lavin and I know what you're going to say about our history…" said Annie.

"Eyal is the right choice and it was already decided. Your professional and personal history together is what will make this work. As you know the only way for a woman to travel in the regions you will be going is with a male relative. Eyal will be your husband and Belenko a cousin."

Annie was pleasantly surprised. "Okay, then," she said slowly while processing the information.

"Eyal touches down. . ." said Joan while looking at her watch, "in about two hours and the two of you will study your covers as will Belenko. You did a great job working his as an asset, he trusts you and you will use that trust to lead us to his brother and his terrorist cells."

"I want this to be over Joan. Belenko and his brother appear to have ties with numerous Islamic radicals."

"I agree, this is the tip of the iceberg, we're counting on you and Eyal to gather as much intel as you can."

"I won't let you down Joan."

When Arthur left his office. Ryan called Annie as he continued to pack up what he needed. He looked over his cache of weapons and gear as he held the phone to his ear. It was the close of the day for most "government workers", but Annie worked around the clock, she wasn't picking up her cell. It meant she was still at the office. When she didn't pick up her desk phone, Ryan was disappointed, but he had no time to keep calling, he had to stay focused. He may not get the chance to talk to her before he left and he couldn't talk to her during his mission, so he fired off a quick email to her personal email address:

Dear Annie,

I'm sorry I had to leave without seeing you one more time, some clients require hand holding, so I'll be away for a couple of days. I wanted to see you one more time, I didn't like the way we left things this morning. I want you to prioritize your health and safety. I'll be back in a couple of days and we can spend some time talking then. Keep the bed warm for me.

I love you,

Ryan

With Ryan away, Annie spends the next two hours immersed in her new cover and preparing for her trip to gather intel on Nikolai Kokorin's faction. When Eyal arrived they shared a late dinner and kept their conversations focused strictly on the work ahead. She and Eyal need to find out where he is keeping his assets and stop him from accessing them. Belenko is the key to their meeting and gaining his trust before they gather the evidence they need. Eyal was under orders from Mossad to take him out. It was the deal that Mossad and the CIA agreed to. She and Eyal tried to only speak in Russian and learned some Chechen terms.

Annie would be Anastasia Kokorin the wife of a doctor, Abrahim Kokorin, cousin to Belenko. They are Russians of Chechen heritage traveling with an ill cousin to track down relatives who fled Chechnya during the war. They are also sympathizers to Islamic radicals because of their family histories. She and Eyal brush up on their Russian and learn the Korkorin family history like the backs of their hands.

Meanwhile Belenko doesn't have much to learn, he's playing himself afterall and he knows the pain his family endured. He had a couple of meetings with his lawyer who was someone he trusted for a long time. He had plans of his own that he was putting into motion.

When Eyal dropped Annie off in front of her apartment at nearly midnight, he said, "So you're still cross with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't once asked me about Zarya, since we met, it's been work work work."

"I'm trying to stay focused."

"That just shows me how upset you are with me."

"Eyal, I'm not upset, I just can't deal with that now, I need to stay focused on this, I have to compartmentalize to stay sane."

"Neshema, when are you going to learn that it doesn't work that way, everything spills into everything else. You have to embrace it and still live your life."

"Thanks Eyal, I'm tired, see you in the morning."

Eyal leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek, he couldn't help but notice how worn down Annie looked.

Once inside her apartment, Annie was too exhausted to even take a bath. She put water in her kettle to make tea, her nightly ritual. While the water boiled, she changed into her pajamas and washed the day off her face. Next she logged onto her computer and read her emails. There were some funny emails forwarded from Danielle, a reminder for the upcoming follow-up appointment she had with her cardiologist and a message from Ryan. She smiled when we read it. She wasn't expecting any communication, but it was nice that he sent her a note. She wondered if she could still reach him via phone.

Annie put down her computer and smiled while dialing his number. While at the office she learned from Joan what was found at Langer's, she knew it must be frustrating to Ryan that Joan was shutting him out, but she also knew how much he wanted to rebuild his company. He was putting in all his time at the office from her point of view.

Ryan didn't tell her what he was working on and Annie believed what Ryan said and took it at face value although she knew he was frustrated by the CIA and Joan's insistence that he not be looped in. She believed he headed to Europe to visit clients. She hoped that she would be able to see him before she left on her mission with Eyal and Belenko. For once she hoped the government would stall Belenko's release so that she could Ryan before she left, otherwise it may be a couple of weeks before she saw him again.

"Hello?" answered Ryan.

"Annie?" he said through the hum on the plane.

It was so nice to hear his voice, "Where are you now?"

"Over the Atlantic somewhere."

"And you?"

"Home in my PJs and getting ready for bed."

"Oh, what kind of PJs?"

"Stop it! You're still over the Atlantic? I thought you left hours ago," laughed Annie.

"Stalled a bit on leaving," fibbed Ryan, it took longer to get to Turkey than Paris where Annie thought he was going.

"Heard about Langer and what happened there. I'm sorry."

"Well, you win some you lose some," said Ryan trying to sound unperturbed about the situation.

"How was your day?"

Annie let out a huge sigh, "I spent a lot of it driving and then prepping for an upcoming mission."

"Mission? You have a follow-up appointment in what, less than three days. Joan is sending you in the field?" asked a disbelieving Ryan.

"Relax, I'll be fine and I won't be alone. Quick and dirty, I just hope I can see you before I leave."

"It has to do with what I'm working on too doesn't it?"

Annie was quiet before saying, "You know I can't talk about it."

"This is ridiculous we should be working together, why does the CIA do this? I'm not a threat. Is that what Joan thinks? I need to talk to her when I get back."

"I don't disagree with you. Just go about it in a . . . less brash way. I think Joan will listen to you if you share what you've found."

"What I've found?"

"You heard me buddy, you're up to something, you forget that I know you too."

"It would be nice to work with you and share information more freely, so what can you share?" said Ryan.

"Nothing until Joan okays it, I'm sorry."

"Can't blame a guy for trying. . . I have something for you when I return." The kettle began whistling and Ryan could hear it. He pictured his beautiful Annie pouring her hot water for tea and he missed her. He wanted nothing more than to be home with her, but this was going to be their life together, he had to get used to it.

"You know I don't need gifts or anything extravagant, I'm not the sort of girl you need to shower gifts upon."

"What do you need then?"

"For you to stay safe, not make any impulsive decisions out there that would mare that beautiful body of yours."

"So, you only care about my looks, shallow Walker," quipped Ryan.

She laughed.

"No seriously, I need to know that you are being careful, that's what this girl needs from her man, not material gifts. If anything happened to you. . ." He was touched. He knew her fears, she had lost people she loved doing this job and she was scarred by that still.

"Nothing is going to happen to me."

"Promise, no grenades," said Annie while biting her lower lip. She was referring to that terrifying scene back at Recoleta Cemetery where she thought she lost him.

"No grenades, sorry I have to go now and I'm sorry I won't be back in time for your follow up appointment."

"That's okay, you can't make all of them."

" I love you Annie."

"Love you too."


End file.
